Corporate Profile Sept 04

Specialized Focus Key to ReMedPar„s Long-Term Success - Q & A with ReMedPar
by Julie E. Williamson

For more information about ReMedPar call 800.624.3994,
visit www.ReMedPar.com or email RMPSales@ReMedPar.com.

For more than 17 years, Goodlettsville, TN-based ReMedPar has been a leading supplier to the medical equipment service industry, meeting a wide range of customer support needs.

Beginning in the 1980s, ReMedPar was a leader in developing service resources for radiographic and computed tomography equipment. During the 1990s, operations expanded to include support for magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear medicine, ultrasound, mammography and cardiac cath labs. By 2000, ReMedPar had become the largest independent supplier of multi-vendor support services for medical equipment in the world. Today, ReMedPar is positioned to meet the diverse technical needs of service organizations in all areas of medical equipment.

Here ReMedPar President & CEO Ed Sloan, Sr. offers insight into the value of providing specialized service, how ReMedPar rises above the ongoing challenge of evolving technology and why the company has consistently flourished in a sea of industry change and competition.

Q: In an industry where many companies are trying to be 'everything to everyone,' how important has it been for ReMedPar to remain more specialized and focus primarily on the medical imaging equipment business?

A: When we started in this business in 1987, we would deliver you a pizza if you asked for it. Refurbished CT’s, X-Ray systems, service contracts here and there, you name it, we would do it. But over several years it was difficult to define our reason for being and put a finger on “the” value proposition. Since the early 90’s ReMedPar has known its strength was providing parts and support to the service industry, and once we learned that, we stuck to it. We’ve been tempted many times to alter that course, but we always look to see what value it will bring to the customer. We think our customer’s would say that keeping our focus on their needs has made the difference.

Q: What is the primary aspect that separates ReMedPar from the competition?

A: Integrity. This industry has always been littered with “fly by the seat of their pants” competitors. They have come and gone and are still coming and going. We have always stood by our products and services. If we make a mistake, we make it right; even it means we are going to lose money on that particular event or transaction. Many times the competition will fail the test if it means less or no profit for them when something goes wrong. We value the customer’s take on it, not just the bottom line.

Q: Let’s discuss some of ReMedPar’s latest product/service offerings.

A: Over the [past] 15 months, ReMedPar has endeavored to add back its equipment business. In 2004, we are taking this to a new level. There are too many synergies from both a profit and a customer value-added perspective to pass up on. Look for us to beef-up our presence in the high-end CT and MRI systems sales arena. We recently added more talent to achieve this goal and have been working for sometime to create strategic alliances in the industry. This business, while under the ReMedPar umbrella, will be its own effort. We have established a team to ensure its success and to make sure that we don’t lose focus on the parts business.

Q: How does evolving technology impact your business?

A: Keeping pace with the constant evolution of technology is a tremendous challenge. It requires a constant focus on skills and technologies available to enable your business. We continually look at current personnel and work hard to keep their skill sets up to modern standards. In times past, the technology curve moved at a slower pace, whereas today we see rapid changes. This also affects the product. Today, life cycles are shorter and the product choices are more broad, whereas in the past you might see one primary dominant device on the market for several years. Every time you see a new product, you incur training time, and research is required to become effective with that product (parts ID, revision control and return on investment studies are all included). This is compounded and magnified with short life cycles brought on by technological advancements. It also presents an opportunity to provide value to our customer. Training our customers and sharing our knowledge has become an integral part of our value proposition. In general, our customers are someone other than the OEM working on a particular device; they have a natural handicap because they don’t have access to the manufacturing environment where the devices were researched and ultimately designed. So we look for ways to help them and through our training programs and technical support, we believe we accomplish that.

Q: Where do you see ReMedPar in five to ten years?

A: In the next few years we visualize ReMedPar as continuing its leadership role in the diagnostic imaging support services by utilizing our vast inventory of repair parts, technical training and technical support, while implementing a robust aftermarket equipment offering.

Q: Where do you envision the medical imaging equipment business in five to ten years?
A: We feel that the OEM side of the industry has consolidated as much as it is going to, but the independent side of the industry will possibly continue to consolidate. The economics of the market will force this consolidation of the more active participants that have larger support overheads.