Many regulatory requirements demand that manufacturers define processes and procedures. Such requirements include, for example, EU regulations (MDR and IVDR), standards such as ISO 13485, IEC 62304, and ISO 14971, and the FDA.
Content
On this page, you will find references to articles on processes and procedures:
- Articles on processes and procedures in general
- Articles on individual processes and procedures
- Information on support for processes and procedures
1. Articles on processes and procedures in general
a) Differentiation between process instructions and standard operating procedures
The description of processes and procedures differs in their level of granularity. Processes describe WHAT is done. Standard operating procedures describe HOW something is done.
However, regulatory requirements do not always distinguish precisely between the two.
All instructions must ultimately determine
- who does what, when, in what order, and how
- and which input is converted into which output.
b) Articles
The processes and procedures are part of quality management. This overview page provides a helpful introduction to the topic of quality management.
The article on creating process and standard operating procedures is helpful. This should only be the task of the QM representative for selected processes.
Once the processes have been defined, they must be subjected to process validation.
Manufacturers should note the difference between process orientation and process management.
2. Articles on individual processes and procedures
a) Development
All manufacturers must define a development process. They should understand the boundaries and interactions between the development plan and process to do this.
Many manufacturers use agile development models for software development. On the other hand, documentation should follow a model more akin to the V-model.
Part of development involves risk management or the risk management process. Here, manufacturers must also analyze the risks posed by inadequate processes, for example, with a process FMEA (pFMEA).
b) Post-production phase
The processes must cover the entire life-cycle of the devices:
3. Support
The Johner Institute helps manufacturers of medical devices to establish lean and standard-compliant processes and procedures.
This enables you to develop and launch your devices quickly and safely in the planned time and at the scheduled cost.
Contact us so that we can draw up a plan together on how you can establish these processes and procedures in a short time and at minimal cost.
The Medical Device Regulation (MDR) (like the Medical Device Directive (MDD) and thus the Medical Device Act before it) requires manufacturers to comply with life cycle processes for their software. IEC 62304 and IEC 82304 also refer to software life cycle processes. But what is a software life cycle? The software life cycle includes all…
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Software maintenance is the phase in which software is further developed, e.g., with the objective of According to the FDA, 79% of all bugs occur during software maintenance. Accordingly, some regulations address this topic. Update: Addition to software maintenance during development Regulatory requirements for software maintenance Requirements of the Medical Device Regulation MDR (2017/745) The…
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The EU regulations place high requirements on the so-called placing on the market of medical devices. Find out in this article what these regulations mean by placing on the market, what misunderstandings and contradictions you must be aware of, and what requirements manufacturers and devices must meet. 1. Placing on the market: Basics a) Definition…
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The digitalization of the production is an essential part of the digital transformation of manufacturing companies. However, not all companies benefit to the same extent from digitalization. This article describes, 1. What is the digitalization of the production? The digitalization of the production covers two areas: 2. Why is the digitalization of the production important?…
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The risk management plan is one of the most important documents in technical documentation. Accordingly, authorities and notified bodies examine this plan intensively. However, it is not only from a regulatory perspective that medical device manufacturers benefit from a precise risk management plan. This article 1. What a risk management plan is In a risk…
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FMEA, or Failure Mode and Effect Analysis, is a procedure for investigating the unknown effects of known causes. In the case of medical devices, for example, FMEA is used in risk analysis to analyze the consequences of a faulty component, in particular, the resulting hazards. 1. How to use the FMEA a) During development Use…
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The QM manual is the top document in the document pyramid of the QM system. It is an entry point for employees and auditors to get a quick overview of the QM system. In this article, you will learn when you need a QM manual, its objectives, and what it should contain. 1. QM manual:…
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In a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), companies define their processes, for example how they develop medical devices or provide services. Standards such as ISO 9001 and ISO 13485 require Standard Operating Procedures. Companies can define these specifications in their quality management manual directly or in independent documents. 1. Standard Operating Procedures: introduction, definitions a) Definition ISO…
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The TIR45 (“Guidance on the use of AGILE practices in the development of medical device software”) is a Technical Information Report (hence TIR) of AAMI, the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation. First published in 2012, TIR45 has one primary objective: To guide medical device manufacturers on developing software compliant with FDA requirements while…
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Trend analysis is a legal obligation of all medical device manufacturers, especially in “Post-Market Surveillance.” Manufacturers must not fail in the selection and application of suitable statistical methods for trend analysis. This is because the focus of authorities and notified bodies is increasingly shifting to monitoring post-market activities. This article provides a quick introduction to this…
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