t
TRADE SHOWS
seen since its inception. PFI and P21 paved the way for a new influx of influencers and IHEEM’s Healthcare Estates reflected that, providing the opportunity to take our products directly to our key audience.
Europe
We were always well placed to expand into Europe as our products are based on a Scandinavian concept and designed to European module sizes. Flexible business models with various market entry and support levels enabled us to build a network of European distributors; we aimed for representation in every European country and its been our attendance at Medica that has enabled that consistent network to build and flourish. Networking led directly to a project in Copenhagen to equip a fully automated sterile services system (a world first), and it all started with just three simple questions asked at a trade show!
Looking beyond Europe Meanwhile, global travel and
communications had become much easier and we started to look at developing into countries where we had no representation - Medica and Arab Health were great vehicles
Case studies
Sidra Medical and Research Centre, Qatar
Sidra Medical and Research Centre in Doha is an ultra-modern, all-digital academic medical centre, established to treat women and children in Qatar, the Gulf region, and internationally. Its vision to be a “beacon of learning, discovery and exceptional care” has led to investment in some of the most advanced and progressive healthcare technology in the world, all housed in a modern structure of steel, glass and white ceramic tiles, designed to set a global benchmark for healing environments. Following an initial meeting at Medica, Medstor and its distributor in the Gulf region, Qatar Datamation Systems, worked closely with Sidra to build the perfect specification for this major project, the equipment for which was then shipped from Medstor’s UK factory. Medstor provided a comprehensive range of its flagship healthcare storage solutions, all in bright white to complement the modern, streamlined aesthetic of the hospital, and all working together to ensure the most efficient materials management system.
Automated CSSD, Denmark
The CSSD is an important part of any hospital, vital for efficient treatment and optimum patient safety. In a world first, Medstor worked in Copenhagen with Danish consulting company, Alectia, to
OCTOBER 2019
equip two automated central sterile services departments (CSSDs), built to deliver sterile goods and services. Medstor’s Danish distributor, Repella A/S, who first introduced Medstor to the project, provided support and liaison throughout.
The new buildings, based at Rigshospitalet and Herlev-Gentofte Hospital, provide sterile instruments for the entire capital region. Almost all the heavy and repetitive work previously undertaken by staff is now be carried out by robots, mini automated guided vehicles and conveyor systems that transport the instruments to a high-bay storage for sterile goods, with room for approximately 11,000 units. The instruments remain here until ordered up by one of the hospitals in the cluster, when more robots pick them up and place them into boxes on the long conveyor belt system that runs around the CSSD, moving the instruments through the selection, disinfection, packing and distribution process as it travels round.
Medstor was awarded the European contract to supply both the boards and the lidded boxes that form part of the system, and to carry out all design development and function testing of these completely new products. Precise and exact manufacturing in Medstor’s UK factory was essential to ensure compatibility with the conveyer belt and the entire system and necessitated the development of new tooling specifically designed for the project.
Regina Maria Hospital, Romania
Medstor recently completed a project with a new distributor in Romania, Kapamed International. Representatives from the company travelled to Romania to provide specialist training to the Kapamed team, whose showroom is filled with examples of Medstor equipment, provoking keen interest from the country’s growing number of hospitals. The new Regina Maria Hospital in Cluj, Romania’s fourth most highly populated city, is the most recent to place a substantial order for Medstor products, which will help it to establish itself as the region’s most up to date and well- equipped hospital. Regina Maria Hospital ordered 30 mobile module carts, each one configured and designed to suit the area and environment in which it would be used – paediatric, resus, therapy, anaesthesia and general Medical. Medstor also worked closely with Regina Maria Hospital and Kapamed to create a bespoke compact nursing cart, designed around the hospital’s specific needs. The carts were shipped to Romania for final fitting-out on site, undertaken by Kapamed. Regina Maria Hospital was so pleased with the quality of the Medstor carts that it has since placed further orders for general storage equipment for use across the hospital.
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to set us on our way, giving us the chance to talk to people who visited our stand, showcase products and basically get the Medstor name out there.
Markets have changed. A great example
of this is Romania, which is now working to get investment into its public health and healthcare environments, planning trade shows and seminars to use the messages learnt at Medica to attract the investment needed to attain the standards required within the larger European Union. The Middle East has also been an exciting market for us. A project at Sidra Medical and Research Centre in Qatar, which started with a meeting at Medica, presented many challenges, not the least of which was how to get our products into an area that was embargoed by its neighbours. We recently introduced RFID technology into one of our ranges, a development that came out of meeting with Tokyo-based RFID and integration specialists SATO and SATO VICINITY at Arab Health. This segues perfectly with the UK Scan4Safety initiative.
Supporting continued growth
Expanding into export markets and making the most of every opportunity that came our
way has enabled us to cope with fluctuations in the UK market and keep all our offices, production facilities and, most importantly, our 170 staff - generations of the same family can be found working in our factory just outside Manchester. Our workforce is our greatest asset, trained to be able to ‘multi-skill’ and fulfil our target of ‘all operatives, all processes, all procedures’, creating a flexible workforce that can be deployed wherever needed. It was during the most recent period of austerity for the UK public sector that our export business came into its own, reaching 25% of our total output and showing growth that surpassed any UK regression. As Brexit looms, we will work to maintain our service levels and work with our trading partners to ensure the smoothest possible transition. I feel absolutely confident in saying that UK companies have a lot to offer the world, and trade shows are a brilliant way to showcase ourselves. Our products are built and tested to the highest EU standards, which usually means they surpass the standards required in other countries. At Medstor, we already have the systems in place to trace standards through the product chain to evidence the provenance of materials and to advise customers on end-of-life
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