Most companies know what they pay for software. They know what they pay for headcount. What they don't see is the cost of connecting the two manually — the hours spent re-keying data, chasing discrepancies, relaying information between systems, and holding the whole operation together with spreadsheets and tribal knowledge.
We call this the coordination tax — and it's the most expensive line item your company never budgeted for. In medical devices, the problem is compounded by what's happening in the field: millions of dollars in consigned instruments sit in hospital supply closets and sales reps' car trunks at any given time — used in cases that were never reported, attached to POs that were never generated, representing revenue that was earned but never collected.
MedWorld Advisors put it plainly in their 2026 M&A outlook: "For much of the past decade, growth masked inefficiency. In 2026, operational credibility is the gating factor."[1] With 25% of the U.S. manufacturing workforce over 55 and 3.8 million jobs to fill by 2033,[2] the knowledge walking out the door is accelerating. The Richmond Fed found that 40% of firms automating manual tasks have already slowed hiring or left roles unfilled.[3] The shift is underway. The question is whether you're measuring what it's costing you to wait.
Most companies only measure cost #1. The other nine are where the real money leaks.