The Power of Proximity: Why the Best Companies Build Together

Written by Jon Smith, Vice President of Business Development, HiArc | Jul 5, 2025 8:03:16 PM

Throughout history, breakthrough innovation has often emerged when skilled minds and capable hands worked side by side. From the bustling guilds of Renaissance Florence, where architects, artists, and engineers shared studios, to the rapid prototyping culture of Japan’s keiretsu manufacturing networks and the garage-born ecosystem of Silicon Valley, co-location has consistently driven creativity, speed, and cost efficiency. 

Today, that same principle of collaboration and cohabitation powers innovation at companies like Apple (with their circular Apple Park) and Google, where design, engineering, and production professionals collaborate in real time. 


At HiArc, we apply this proven model to medical technology, placing our design, engineering, and manufacturing teams under one roof to accelerate development and deliver smarter, safer instruments and machines. 


Inspiration from the world’s most innovative campuses


Look at Google’s New York City hub—a vast urban campus where engineers, designers, product managers, and marketers collaborate in real time. The idea is to create a space that people want to commute in for, in an era of remote working. A space where ideas and information can flow and where integration between disciplines happens more naturally.  

Or Apple Park in Cupertino, where designers and hardware engineers work under the same ring-shaped roof to ensure their devices are as beautiful as they are functional. This building is not only “Apple's largest product ever” but a physical embodiment of the seamless integration and connectedness of Apple’s thinking, workforce and products. 

 

 

 

 

Why this matters in medtech


For complex diagnostic or medical platforms, co-location isn’t just a convenience it’s a game-changer. A typical failure point in medtech development? The handoff between design and manufacturing. When these functions are siloed, communication breaks down, documentation gets lost, and quality suffers.


At HiArc, we eliminate the handoff. Our cross-functional teams of designers, engineers, and manufacturing experts sit shoulder to shoulder, solving problems in real time and building smarter, faster, and more safely.


Designed for integration and built to get better


HiArc was founded on the belief that true innovation happens when design, engineering, and manufacturing work as one. That’s why we’re eliminating silos, creating a seamless, end-to-end process where every team is aligned from day one. The result? Tighter feedback loops, fewer surprises, faster time to market and dramatically reduced risk.


But we’re not standing still. As part of our business re-engineering, in 2026 we’ll move to a new purpose-built HiArc Campus, a space inspired by our promise to be “engineered around you”. It’s more than a new location. It’s a physical expression of our belief in integration, collaboration, and client-centered innovation.


For our clients, it means clarity and confidence at every stage. For the patients you serve, it means getting life-saving technology to market faster—built right, the first time.