Optimizing Medtech Manufacturing: The Power of Vertical Integration
In today’s complex healthcare environment, innovation alone isn’t enough — success requires robust systems that support the development and delivery of life-saving technologies. In a recent Harvard Business Review article titled “To Improve Health Care, Focus on Fixing Systems — Not People”, Kedar Mate, President and CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, emphasized how systemic thinking can improve healthcare outcomes. At G&H, we believe the same principle applies to medical device manufacturing: better systems lead to better solutions.
Manufacturing plays a foundational — yet often underappreciated — role in the healthcare system. To ensure devices reach patients efficiently, cost-effectively, and at scale, the right processes and infrastructure must be set in place. That’s where vertical integration makes all the difference.
R&D, the Backbone of Scalable Medical Manufacturing
Successful medical device production starts with rigorous research and development (R&D). At G&H, our multidisciplinary teams ensure that every concept is clinically relevant, technically feasible, and regulatory-compliant. Our expertise includes:
- Concept development – translating early-stage ideas into manufacturable, scalable designs;
- Prototyping and risk analysis – identifying challenges early to reduce delays and cost;
- Advanced engineering and digitalized design – using simulation and modeling to optimize functionality and manufacturability.
This approach ensures design for manufacturability (DFM) from the start, shortening time-to-market without compromising compliance or quality.
Enhancing Vertical Integration with Injection Molding Capabilities
Vertical integration in the medtech space often involves the ability to partner a device or instrument with a consumable. When designed and manufactured independently, problems often arise in end performance and high-volume manufacturing. As part of our commitment to full-spectrum production, G&H leverages its more than one-hundred-year history of in-house injection molding to support the growing demand for precision plastic components in medtech applications. This is in particular why our Rochester, New York-based location is the most suited to service the growth of this segment both within the United States and abroad. Simultaneously, the capability enhances our vertical integration model, offering customers even more control over quality, consistency, and speed.
Combined with our global supply network, including trusted partners in Asia, our injection molding offering allows customers to scale economically while maintaining regulatory compliance and performance integrity across all components of their product.
Strengthening the Supply Chain Through Vertical Integration
One of the greatest advantages of vertical integration is control – over quality, timelines, and cost. G&H’s end-to-end model removes inefficiencies often found in fragmented supply chains. We support scalability across a wide spectrum of device complexity. Our global footprint enhances this even further by having:
- Dual-region instrument manufacturing: Our sites in the United States and United Kingdom provide customers with options for geographic proximity and regulatory familiarity;
- Access to low-cost regions: As part of the broader G&H Group, we leverage trusted outsourcing for cost-efficient scaling – an advantage many competitors can’t match;
- Scalable production capabilities: From low-complexity modules and sub-systems to full-level device assemblies, our facilities are equipped to support varying production needs as devices progress from prototype to commercial launch.
This integrated and globally optimized model reduces lead times, improves agility, and supports cost-competitive pricing – especially critical in today’s evolving medtech landscape.
A Single Partner for a Smarter Manufacturing Process
Rather than relying on multiple vendors for each stage of development, medtech innovators can work with G&H as a single, strategic partner. This enables deeper collaboration and seamless transitions from design to production.
Take, for example, our collaboration with Prolight Diagnostics. Their Psyros system, a point-of-care solution for detecting myocardial infarction via biomarker analysis, required both miniaturized optical components and a specialized illumination source. Rather than engaging in multiple suppliers, Prolight partnered with G&H across multiple sites. Our G&H Keene facility in the United States handled both the miniaturization of the optical lens system and the development of a compatible illumination source. In the United Kingdom, our G&H Ashford site then finalized the working prototype.
Thanks to our integrated model, Psyros progressed rapidly through development and is now preparing for its pre-validation and clinical performance studies in 2025. More importantly, Prolight’s long-term pathway includes transitioning portions of production to low-cost regions within our supply chain, ensuring commercial scalability and cost-effectiveness for price-sensitive markets.
The G&H Approach: A Multiphase, Risk-Mitigated Process
Our phased product development strategy provides structure and flexibility from early concept to final product launch. This process includes:
- Market analysis and needs identification - aligning with clinical and market demand;
- Concept development and engineering – ensuring technical feasibility and compliance;
- Contract manufacturing and quality assurance – delivering consistent, high-quality outputs at scale.
By combining expertise in life sciences, optics, engineering, and injection molding, G&H offers unparalleled support for every stage of medtech innovation.
The Future of Medtech: Integrated, Efficient, and Scalable
In a world where speed, precision, and cost-efficiency define success, vertical integration is no longer optional – it’s a strategic necessity. G&H’s model empowers medical device innovators to move from idea to commercial launch with fewer barriers, greater confidence, and stronger outcomes.
As the industry continues to evolve, we’re here to help companies innovate smarter, scale faster, and deliver better care through manufacturing systems built for the future. The path to smarter, more accessible healthcare technologies starts here.
Life sciences solutions
As a vertically integrated supplier of optics, modules, and subassemblies, G&H is uniquely positioned to support scalable manufacturing, documented quality control, and security of supply.
