Developing a Design and Development Plan is a part of the design controls process required by the FDA for medical device manufacturers[1]. Having a plan in place first will make it so that a manufacturer developing a device will have a much easier time staying compliant. If design and development is not done properly the first-time remediation may be required in order to bring the manufacturer and the device into compliance with regulations. In the worst-case scenario, the FDA might find that the manufacturer is failing to meet the design control requirements for a device and take action against the manufacturer. EMMA International can help explain what exactly is needed for design controls to be compliant.
Planning is a key part of design control not only because it helps set out the steps necessary for designing the device and getting onto the market, but also because it helps establish what documents will be needed for record-keeping. A lot of documents are generated during the design process, a design and development plan will help keep track of which of those are necessary records required for compliance and which are not.
Setting the phases of the design process, what goes into those phases, and what should be expected to come out of those phases is another part of planning. Additionally, each task in a phase would have a person or a team assigned to that task allowing for a clear understanding of responsibilities. In addition to tasks, deliverables, and responsibilities, a timeline should be established as well. Setting a schedule for the process will allow the product to reach the market in the expected timeframe.
Design reviews should be included in the schedule. These reviews would be conducted at the end of each phase in order to move on to the next phase. With approval from the reviewers, the project would not be allowed to advance past its current phase. This is done to ensure that all the necessary deliverables from the phase have been submitted and been done correctly. For example, a testing report may have been submitted but if the report is missing pages or if the calculations were flawed then the reviewers would reject the report and prevent moving forward until the issues had been corrected.
EMMA International is capable of putting an entire Design Control system in place for a company. This includes writing planning procedures that are tailored directly to the company and even helping with the design process. EMMA International provides Full Circle Consulting, give us a call at 248-987-4497 or email info@emmainternational.com to get in touch with our team of experts today.
[1] FDA (September 2014) Design Controls, Retrieved 12/18/2021 from https://www.fda.gov/inspections-compliance-enforcement-and-criminal-investigations/inspection-guides/design-controls
