A lot of my next few posts are related to the Roche Social Media Summit because it sparked a lot of ideas in my mind to blog about. This one in particular is about our trip through their manufacturing in Indianapolis. I spoke to several people who have toured either this facility or other facilities in the past and they feel that once you seen one, you have seem them all. Well, I have never seen one before, so it was all new and crazy to me.
As the title of this post points out, I have a new perspective on the high cost of test strips. Now, before I begin, let me say, I still think that there are ways to lower the costs a bit, but I can now understand a little better the reasons for these costs.
The technology in these manufacturing plants are just amazing. And technology like this does not come cheap. I really don’t have many words to describe them. The way that all the moving parts all work together to make this tiny test strip just blew my mind. Not only is there a lot of expensive technology to make the test strips, there is technology to help detect flawed strips and product that is not high quality. That means a lot to me. I would rather pay a bit more and know that the test strip is working properly and giving me the correct number.
It just makes me wonder, the strips that are only a few cents per strip, what kind of accuracy or quality assurance is there?
As I mentioned above, I still think that there could be lower costs somewhere in the process. The more you do something, the cheaper it should get. Could it be material costs or integrating two processes into one without losing quality and accuracy? I don’t know, but I do think there is room for improvement.
There is a difference between understanding something and settling for it. I understand why the costs are high, but I don’t think we should still settle for it. I think that it is most important to find a way to make the most accurate product, then look at the process of making that accurate product and figure out how to cut costs. Normal business procedure.
What are your thoughts on the cost of strips, manufacturing technology, accuracy concerns, etc?
**Disclosure: Roche paid my travel to and from Indianapolis, along with all meals and hotel. Roche also has paid ads throughout this site. The views and opinions in this post are 100% entirely mine and are not influenced by Roche.