Looking to new horizons Getinge Group

LOOKING TO NEW HORIZONS

The Getinge Group, a leading global provider of products and services for the life sciences sector, is currently in the process of implementing a new strategy for improvement throughout the organisation. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to business development manager Stephen Morley to see how this strategy is further boosting the company’s achievements.

IN the 18 months since Industry Europe last spoke with leading life sciences products and services provider the Getinge Group, the company has undergone a series of changes. Prompted by both positive and negative situations, the changes have nonetheless already proven to be beneficial to the organisation, its customers and its shareholders.

Stephen Morley, business development manager for the Getinge Infection Control business area, explained, “We sadly lost our business area CEO in the middle of 2010 and he was replaced in January 2011. We are very fortunate that his replacement, Johan Falk, is an innovative, enthusiastic, entrepreneurial character who is already leading us to some new and exciting places. We recently hosted our strategy conference in Orlando where these traits were certainly in evidence, and we are currently in the process of rolling out our new strategy across the company worldwide.”

Totally customer focused

The key focus for Getinge today is the customer. Even though the company has long been appreciated for its strong customer-based products and services, the new CEO is clear that this can be taken a step further. Mr Morley continued, “As a medical technology group, it is imperative that we are constantly staying on top of what our customers are demanding. There’s no room for error in our business and we pride ourselves on being a solutions provider. The strategy conference highlighted the continuing importance of getting really involved with our customers and carefully listening to their needs. We all think that we listen to our customers but the conference underlined why active listening is important,

and how we can implement that throughout our worldwide operation and to each of our 3000 employees within Infection Control.”

The Getinge Group is headquartered in Getinge, Sweden, has production sites or sales offices in 37 countries and has in total 13,000 employees worldwide. In 2010, the group generated sales of SEK 25 billion. Divided into three core business areas – Infection Control (Getinge), Medical Systems (Maquet) and Extended Care (Arjo Huntleigh) – the Getinge Group provides products and services for operating rooms, intensive care units, care units, sterilisation centres, elderly care and for companies and institutions that are active in the life sciences sector.

In 2011, the group saw moderate growth across its three business areas, with particularly strong performance in Asia. Mr Morley said, “I don’t believe there are many, if any, areas of the world where Getinge is not already active, so we are in a strong position to maximise the growth potential of important emerging markets, which can counter balance areas which may be struggling. As a global company, historically the majority of sales have been in the EU and North America, but we have been enjoying excellent results in the rest of the world, notably in Asia, eastern Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. In the middle of 2010 we actively reorganised part of Getinge to ensure that we were able to reinforce our efforts in these territories, which included the relocation of some staff and some acquisitions.”

Acquisition and innovation

Getinge has grown largely through acquisition over the years and this continues to be an important focus for the group. For the Infection Control business unit which Mr Morley represents, this is set to continue alongside organic growth. He pointed out that good opportunities for development of existing products and services were clearly evident across its geographical territories, particularly in the field of cost efficiency.

Mr Morley continued, “This is what is so exciting, as even though what we were doing before wasn’t wrong, this new focus on engaging and communicating with our customers means that we are even clearer on what innovative solutions we need to create and deliver. Our highly-skilled teams are all experts in their fields, so when they speak with the customers they are talking their language. They’re not just salespeople selling, they’re solutions providers that understand the often very technical nature of the businesses they’re dealing with. Our people know our customers’ needs, applications and issues and so can serve them better. It’s a core Getinge advantage.”

The Getinge Group’s forward-thinking strategy conference has clearly set out ambitious aims for the coming years. Mr Morley pointed out that each business unit has identified clear goals, called ‘horizons’, and has defined a course to reach them. n

Dacol Engineering

Dacol Engineering is proud to support Getinge in this article. We have been a supplier from the early 1980`s to Sterilizing Equipment and since 2002 when they changed their name to Getinge. We are suppliers of high quality machined items to meet the standards required and expected by a company of Getinge’s reputation. We are also able to offer advice and guidance to help resolve and drive forward new projects. We are fully committed to ensure our Quality and Reliability is maintained for the future.

Dacol Engineering since 1977. Accreditation to ISO 9001:2008

Dacol Engineering Ltd are CNC Machinists registered to ISO 9001:2000 and have been trading as a partnership for the last 30 years. We are situated in Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire and occupy three units giving us a working space of 3600 sq ft, with 3000 sq ft of this being dedicated to production.

We provide CNC Milling and Turning services to customer specifications, which may include plating, painting, anodising and assembly where necessary.

We pride ourselves in being able to offer a fi rst class service, where our speciality is not specialising in any one particular thing, which we feel makes us stand out from the rest, as we strive to accommodate the customer’s requirements.

Over the years we have found out that communication can only make for better customer relations. Many of our customers are long standing and we like to think of ourselves as an extension to their business activities.

www.dacolengineering.co.uk