EBME Forums Forums Free discussion Free discussion European Medical Physics and Engineering Conf 2011

Hi All,

Long time reader, first time poster here (Newb, Rook, etc). I've been learning loads about the UK biomed community through your posts, so many thanks.

Any who, I am thinking of exhibiting my company's biomedical repair services and new products at the European Medical Physics and Engineering Conference in Dublin.

Have any of you been to the conference before or intend to go this year?

It is not my intention to shamelessly self promote our company on the forum; therefore, I will respectfully withhold our company name (that is unless you want it ). However, we specialize in endoscope, pump, module, monitor, O2 blender, suction regulator, fetal transducer, and SP02 probe repair. We also manufacture our own 02 blenders, suction regulators, fetal transducers, and SP02 probes. Our repairs and products are CE marked and FDA approved and can be found in hospitals throughout the USA.

Do you think our services and products would be well received at the show?

Any info would be great as the UK is new territory for this Yankee.

Many thanks,

Bob

I received a PM about the 7th Annual IPEM Study Day, which I am going to look into further as it may be more up our alley. If you know of other shows that our products and services may fit, I'd greatly appreciate your direction (read: pints on me if we exhibit at the show and you are in attendance).

Cheers!

Welcome to the forum Bob.

Did you miss the EBME Seminar a couple of months back, then?

It was only just down the road from where you are.

I find it interesting that a company based in the States believes it worthwhile to set up in the UK at this time.

So what can I say but "Good Luck"!

Meanwhile I'm wondering if you plan to offer all the services mentioned in your catalogue (having had a quick look) ... stuff like repairs and calibration of older infusion pumps, for example? There is a market out there (especially in the veterinary sector), but - as always - it's all down to:-

1) Price
2) Availability of parts
3) Turnaround time
4) Having sufficient resources
5) Having the right people

... but mainly Price (of course)!

6) Spelling

It is one of my bugbears that international companies have a UK web site which is just a repetition of the US one complete with US (mis)spellings.

Something that has always puzzled me:
The e after certain letters is meant to modify the sound of the letter i.e. foetal, oesophagus. So why does the US language drop the letter and keep the modifier? If they were going to shorten the word why is it not fotal?

Bring back the diphthong - who is old enough to remember keyboards (typewriters) that had them. Is there an ASCII code for them?

RoJo

Seriously, new quality competition is always good especially at a good price.

Whilst being a bit of a pedant myself, I can still see the advantage(s) of phonetic spelling.

All that stuff (to do with the origin of the word in most cases) must be very difficult for newcomers to the English language to get their heads around.

Meanwhile, check out ASCII character 145. Or, if you like, 91 hex. æ.

You know, I read RoJo's post earlier and I was thinking of posting....

Don't be tempted Geoff, stay on topic.

Please keep to Bobs original topic.

Thænk you Geoff
I did get back on topic in my post Huw
RoJo

Thank you Geoff, Rojo, and Huw for the responses and attempts to remain on topic.

Geoff - I missed the EBME seminar but will be looking to exhibit/attend next year. We offer all of our repair services to the UK; unfortunately, shipping across the Atlantic (and the whole of the US for that matter) diminishes the value of some of our services and increases turnaround time. We are currently in the process of setting up a UK location to better handle large item repairs. It is worthwhile to set up in the UK because frankly, the UK is ripe for the picking. Budget cuts mean departments are looking for quality, cost-effective alternatives and we offer them at a fraction of the OEM price. Our model is proven in the US, and I am here to try to make it work in the UK. Any suggestions or advice to push me in the right direction is greatly appreciated.

Rojo - Thank you for the laugh and the lesson in diphthongs. However, the correct spelling is "fetal". "Fetus" and "fetal" are derived from the latin "feto" and are recognized as the standard spelling in medical journals throughout the world. See http://tinyurl.com/26hrcqb and http://tinyurl.com/yrular. That being said, when we create a UK website I will recognise your concerns and use the British (mis)spellings. See http://tinyurl.com/9wfah for further explanation of our spelling differences.

Any other suggestions for places to exhibit our products?

H'mmm. I wonder.

Now we're all looking forward to hearing how you got on in one, two ... five years time!

Quite a few others have tried, after all. But as long as you have plenty of capital to invest (risk), perhaps you'll be able to surprise us all. The "market" could certainly do with some stiff competition, and I'm sure we all wish you Good Luck.

Meanwhile, my advice would be that you consider fostering a relationship with one of the existing medical equipment servicing and repair companies.

And further to that ... if your principals (backers, whomever) have money to spare, perhaps you should simply consider buying one of those companies - thereby gaining an immediate foot in the door, toehold in the market, instant client base, ready-to-run engineers (with local knowledge etc., etc.) ... and such good things as that!

Great advice, Geoff. That is certainly our intention.

In regard to the "ripe for the picking" comment, with a few exceptions, our company model focuses on the "low-hanging" fruit, smaller items that all hospitals have and regularly need replaced or repaired. Because of our focus, we can achieve high quality at low costs. For instance, take the finger probe market. There are plenty of third party providers out there, but their quality and longevity lacks compared to the OEM. The quality is so poor that they have lowered their prices significantly and, in some instances, increased or modified their warranty. Because of budget issues, biomed/procurement departments continue to purchase these sub-par probes as they can buy 3 or 4 for the cost of 1 OEM. Sounds like a good deal until the 3 or 4 replacements go bust before the 1 OEM would.

Not to self promote (Huw), but this is where our company comes in. Our US (not China) based company answers to the FDA, EU, ISO (2 certs), and the State of California, and our products are every bit as quality as the OEM but for a fraction of the price. Our new products, partnered with our repair solutions can save trusts heaps money. We'll see how were doing a few years down the road, but if our US track record is any indication, we'll still be around.

Back to the topic at hand. I've received suggestions for the following shows:

22/9/2011 York Study Day (application to exhibit in and awaiting reply)
13/10/2011 National Biomed and Clinical Engineering Conference (on waiting list for exhibition space)

Any other suggestions please reply or PM. Many thanks for all your advice guys.