Orchid Orthopedic Solutions (Holt, Mich.) and its Orchid Supply+ offering could be a great example of how outsourcing in the orthopedic device space is evolving.

“Orchid has emerged as the leading candidate for supply chain consolidation, enabling our customers to shift their focus from operations to growth drivers, such as design and marketing,” Scott Reese, director of business development at Orchid, said in a recent company blog post.

Reese thinks the medical device orthopedics space is catching up to where industries such as automotive, pharmaceuticals and aerospace have been for decades with their supply chains. Automotive OEMs, for example, rely on design and supply chain partners for their unique expertise in tires, seats and brakes, enabling them access to cost-effective design and manufacturing services.

“Orthopedic OEM growth has been constrained by the bandwidth of their operations, reducing their ability to launch new products. OEMs would rather invest in cost-effective technology than in expanding their operations,” Reese said.

European private equity outfit Nordic Capital’s acquisition of Orchid in 2019 provided an immediate capital infusion to enable Orchid to make the shift. A major step in Orchid’s evolution involved the application of integrated business planning (IBP). — as well as the advanced product quality planning (APQP) that the automotive and semiconductor industries have used on their supply chains.

“Orchid has purposefully built an organization that resembles our customers’ operations, delivers with high confidence and provides new technologies that advance healthcare, all while moving fixed cost out of the OEM [profit and loss],” Reese said.