Forbes Insights and IDEX Health & Science LLC Report Finds Life Science Sector is ‘Behind’ the Collaboration Curve

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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E-mail: IHSMarketing@idexcorp.com

Rohnert Park, CA, July 30, 2018 — A survey of three technology-intensive industries has found a growing share of executives, including 68% of life science executives, see active and meaningful collaboration with their suppliers as essential to their future success/innovation/competitive advantage.

180 executives from the life science, pharmaceuticals, and aviation industries took part in the survey, which was conducted by Forbes Insights and sponsored by IDEX Health & Science, to find out how innovation is evolving in these dynamic industries.
All three industries included in the survey require the integration of complex processes, components and technologies to deliver highly advanced products and services. They often face lengthy product development timelines and are dealing with valuable, often breakthrough, IP. They all require unequivocal repeatability, reliability and quality and must continually meet a wide range of strict regulatory performance goals.

The report based on this survey, “Unlocking Innovation in Your Supply Chain: Five Collaborative Insights for Life Science,” explores how companies in these sectors are using supply chain collaboration in their innovation strategies to overcome some of these challenges and achieve an array of benefits.

Key findings of the research include:

1. Change is accelerating and challenges are growing: 61% of executives agreed that we are in an era of accelerating complexity in design and engineering challenges, and 65% find it hard to keep up with the scientific and technological advances.
2. Supplier collaboration is key: 68% of life science executives believe that active and meaningful engagement with suppliers is essential to success, compared with 62% for aviation and 57% for pharma.
3. Collaboration goes beyond suppliers: More than half of executives say they are already taking steps to expand or improve the degree of cooperation with a wide range of external relationships, including partners, competitors, industry associations, universities and customers.
4. Life science is ‘behind’ the collaboration curve: 37% of life science executives lean toward a “do it all” orientation, versus only 25% in pharma and 22% in aerospace.
5. There is a recognized need to become better at collaboration: Nearly three-quarters of respondents say they need to improve their capabilities in collaborating with suppliers.

Will Thompson, Managing Director, Thought Leadership and Content Marketing, Forbes Insights, commented: “Executives across life science, aviation/aerospace and pharmaceuticals agree: it is an era of rapid change, ripe with new challenges. While executives recognize that closer collaboration with suppliers can help combat these challenges, it’s clear that companies can do more to strengthen these relationships. Critical considerations for achieving this include culture change, transforming supplier selection, setting protocols for IP sharing and improving communication.”

Gustavo Salem, Group President at IDEX Health & Science LLC, added: “We wanted to explore how the supplier-customer relationship in life science in particular is changing, and the findings of this research have been very revealing. The fact that 55% of life science companies do not involve their suppliers in substantive product and service design and engineering discussions is not a surprise, but a challenge we must overcome as a value-added supplier of optofluidic solutions with a lot to offer. The current approach to ‘mitigating risks’ can be counterproductive and is creating hidden and unnecessary complexities, uncertainty, and risk. It’s encouraging, however, to find that many life science leaders are aware of the need to collaborate more and even beyond the supply chain. We hope that by redefining the traditional supplier/customer relationship we will move towards a new era of mutually beneficial collaboration, and we are excited to be leading the discussion with our latest research.”

For the complete findings and to learn more about the IDEX Health & Science campaign, IDEXology, to help life science organizations collaborate more effectively, for which this report was produced, please visit: idex-hs.com/partnership

About IDEX Health & Science LLC

IDEX Health & Science, LLC is the global leader in life science fluidics, microfluidics, and optics, offering a three-fold advantage to customers by bringing optofluidic paths to life with strategic partnerships, breakthrough solutions, and proven expertise. As one of the few companies in the world with component, sub-system, and application level experts, IDEX Health & Science helps instrument developers solve the most demanding fluidic and optical challenges in a wide array of applications. At IDEX Health & Science we believe partnership will change the way the world innovates, leading to new technologies that improve our health, protect our planet, and enrich our lives. For more information, visit: www.idex-hs.com

About Forbes Insights

Forbes Insights is the strategic research and thought leadership practice of Forbes Media, a global media, branding and technology company whose combined platforms reach nearly 94 million business decision makers worldwide on a monthly basis. By leveraging proprietary databases of senior-level executives in the Forbes community, Forbes Insights conducts research on a wide range of topics to position brands as thought leaders and drive stakeholder engagement. Research findings are delivered through a variety of digital, print and live executions, and amplified across Forbes’ social and media platforms.

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