Comprehensive P&O

Comprehensive Prosthetics & Orthotics (CPO)

Comprehensive Prosthetics & Orthotics (CPO) is one of the largest orthotic and prosthetic service providers in the US. They receive orders to manufacture medical devices from their own network of brick-and-mortar clinics, which span Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, and Missouri. Hundreds of their clinicians submit orders to two central fabrication facilities, in which they manufacture each product custom to their patients’ needs.

Before FactoryFour, CPO’s clinicians sent plaster casts and clay impressions of patients' limbs along with paper forms to their central fabrication facilities. Often, the ordering process involved several back-and-forth calls to rectify errors or clarify details in the order submission. Order data was then manually transcribed, and issued to the floor as a paperwork order. During production, a job traveler moved through each work center, and technicians referenced the paperwork order to produce each custom product.

Whenever a customer called with an order inquiry, it required a tedious process of going to the floor, locating the job traveler, and relaying the order status back to the customer. CPO needed a solution that would connect their clinics directly to the manufacturing floor, providing immediate visibility for customers and managers while streamlining the process for their technicians.

With FactoryFour, CPO saved 20 minutes of labor in producing each medical device by streamlining order flow from their network of clinics to their manufacturing facilities, while increasing supply chain transparency through greater visibility into production.

CPO used forms in FactoryFourto to configure custom digital order forms for their clinics to submit detailed order information directly to production facilities. Support for uploading media file types such as 3D scans enhanced the order experience. Each clinic was given access to a FactoryFour portal where they could view these forms and see the status of their submitted orders in real-time. Error validation and autofill templates were added to the forms to reduce human error and increase the speed of order submission.

Once an order is submitted by a clinic, it automatically appears in the manufacturing facility’s queue for approval. CPO then usesWorkflows in FactoryFourto move the order through the production process. Tablets fixed at each station notify technicians of the tasks they have been assigned to, which include milling, thermoforming, and shipping.

As a device is being manufactured, CPO’s clinics can immediately see the status of their order and receive email notifications when certain events occur, such as when their device is completed and shipped. Managers can also gain deep insights on order progress, creating dashboards to monitor specific metrics on the manufacturing floor in real-time.