The digital disruption in the present era has drastically affected the way companies across industries and geographies work. Virtual assistance in providing patient care and hybrid workspace for healthcare employees has sprung up to a large extent. Among them, hospitals and the medical equipment industry are no exception. In this blog you will learn the role of Google Workspace in the medical equipment manufacturing sector and how it is helping companies do more with less.

Medical Device Manufacturing Industry – an overview 

Medical industry comprises the devices made for patients like pacemaker, MRI scanner, hearing devices, dental products like braces and dentures, and other diagnostic machines, prosthetics like knee implants and artificial joints, and disposal & consumables like needles and syringes etc.

Key stakeholders in this industry and their challenges

The key stakeholders of medical equipment manufacturing companies are suppliers, manufacturers, dealers / distributors, doctors, clinicians and consumers (patients). 

Suppliers: All the players who supply the basic / raw materials to the Medical Device / Equipment manufacturers who in turn make the device.

Manufacturers / OEMs: The ones who assemble these devices and make it a packaged offering

Dealers / Distributors: An essential piece in the supply chain that helps the OEMs in selling these devices.

Doctors / Clinics / Labs / Hospitals: Who use these devices

Customer / Patient: Who directly / indirectly uses these devices.

So how can the Medical Equipment Manufacturers use Google Workspace effectively in their business?

What is Google Workspace?

Google Workspace is a suite of applications that enhances communication and collaboration within your organization. These applications include Corporate GMail, Calendar, Chat (One on One chat), Spaces (Group Chat), Online storage (Google Drive), Office Productivity Suite (Google Docs, Sheets and Slides), Survey tool – Google Forms, Intranet Portal – Google Sites. These applications can be accessed from any device, anyplace and at any time. While your employees can access these applications easily, your IT team can publish security based policies to ensure a high level of data-security in  your work environment.

Below are a few points why we believe Google Workspace can add a tremendous value to Medical Device Equipment Manufacturers.

Faster on-boarding of Suppliers / vendors

• Google Forms: Create an electronic form, where you give relevant space for responses. Suppliers can upload their files like GST, Certificate of Incorporation (CIN), PAN Card certificates etc. on the forms instead of submitting the physical copies by using any device (mobile phone, computers and others).
• Google Sites: A portal can be created through which the suppliers can be educated on the quality standards of your company amongst many other things. You can also upload your training resources that will help the suppliers understand better about your company. 
• Google Sheets: Create a checklist where you upload the policies and training links. This will keep them organized and the process is faster. 

More innovation and faster launch of products

Google products and simple yet innovative features they offer to customers are known to:

Ideating with Google Meet: the video conferencing feature allows you to share your ideas with your vendors and suppliers. Record videos for future reference of the product. 

Create tasks for the team members: assign tasks to your team members on the group chat. Threads enable you to have better communication about the product.  

Doing a survey: with Google Forms, prepare and circulate questionnaires through which responses can be collected on Google Sheets as well. 

Present better: Google Sites helps in making briefs and presentation of business plans to Management. 

Centralized repository : Store  and review of marketing and sales collaterals on Google Docs and Google Sheets which can be circulated easily. 

Training the Sales team : Google Sites can have the roles and procedures while Google Meet can help you record meetings for future references.  

Educating and motivating dealers to sell more

Educating dealers : Google Site helps in creating a website with information related to the product. Google Drive shall act as a repository for sharing and review of product brochures, features, design, pricing etc. 

Run training sessions : Record the video calls on Google Meet’s recording feature and share it with them for future reference and better understanding. 

Announcing campaigns and collecting data : With Google sites you can announce joint campaigns with links to Google Forms. This makes it easy in collecting data, feedback  and reviews. 

Performance reviews : Conduct performance reviews on Google Meet Video Conferencing as you can readily share and present files during the call.

Work closer with the Doctors / Clinics / Hospitals 

Educating Doctors, Clinics and Hospitals : Google Sites can help with the procedures to follow. A Google Drive link containing sample videos, flow charts and step-by-step instructions can help them understand your product. 

Collecting feedback on the device : Google Forms again can help you get feedback about your product. Responses can be shared in the form of Google Sheets. 

Providing support : Allow your customers to contact you with their queries and schedule Google Meet Video Calls to resolve.