The Indian Healthcare industry has been on a high growth trajectory over the last decade. Factors such as changing demographics, rising life expectancy, and growing public awareness have contributed to a higher demand for medical care. There has also been a significant increase in the number of hospitals, wherein the bed strength is expected to increase to around 2.9 million by 2025. This rise has been driven primarily by the growing presence of corporate hospital chains, international companies and service providers entering tier 2 and tier 3 cities.
Although access to quality and affordable healthcare remains inequitable across large parts of the country, the medical devices sector, including the hospital furniture segment, has grown considerably and plays a critical role in improving the access and affordability of healthcare services. However, even with the current surge in demand, some ecosystem constraints such as no prescribed standard manufacturing-quality guidelines by the government have shifted the focus to a price war and thus becoming highly dependent on imports without making any consideration of the quality and patient safety norms.
Perfectly understanding the current market scenario, Vinod Medical Systems Pvt. Ltd. (VMS) has been one such entity that has been constantly striving to build a robust healthcare ecosystem across the Indian sub-continent. As one of the fast-growing ISO certified companies, VMS has been dealing in high-quality healthcare imaging, accessories, equipment, photographic and signage products.
We interacted with Suresh Rathi, MD, Vinod Medical Systems to know more. Excerpts:
What are the major expectations of client organizations from Medical equipment companies? How do you meet their expectations?
We have been in this segment for over a decade now. If your product meets the required quality standards of functionality, patient safety and comfort; is low maintenance; and if your company offers appropriate after-sales service; hospitals and healthcare providers will never negotiate on the price.
That is why our primary aim has always been to offer quality products. So, be it the steel that we source from Tata Steel or JSW, or the castors that we import from Steinco, Germany, and even the anti-microbial coating that we provide, gives our products a superior edge over the other players in this space.
How is your company positioned in this segment?
Today, there is a strong focus by hospitals on upgrading their facilities and medical technology. However, in India, only a handful of hospital furniture manufacturers produce equipment at par with the statutory norms, wherein, we are ranked second. The biggest accelerator for us has been our need to comply with the accreditation requirements. We are also one of the very few manufacturers to have ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004, ISO 13485:2003, CE, OHSAS, 18001:2007, and WHO-GMP certifications.
What are the major factors that set you apart from other players in this segment?
In addition to the excellent product quality and streamlined manufacturing processes, one of our biggest strengths is our wide array of products. Unlike most indigenous brands, we offer the entire gamut in hospital furniture ranging from consulting equipment, ICU, fowler and plain beds, OT equipment, maternity and gynaec products including paediatric beds, utility and ward equipment; patient transfer trolleys and wheelchairs; food tables and lockers as well as their various accessories.
To gain a footprint in the ultra-high-end segment, we have exclusively partnered with Malvestio of Italy to distribute their fully automated Gamma 3 Electric Beds. In addition, we are also the only company to offer a complete range of products in the radiology segment. Keeping up with our motto of 'One Brand Many Solution' we have recently introduced MediPro, a holistic, end-to-end management DICOM solution which is well-received in its segment.
Tell us about the overall journey of the company. How has it nurtured itself over the years?
Vinod Medical Systems Pvt. Ltd. has carved a niche for itself in the world of healthcare imaging, diagnostic equipment, photography, signage products and more recently in the e-commerce segment as well. Established in 1988, the company has transformed itself into a manufacturer of repute, with the establishment of two ISO-certified production units for hospital furniture and equipment, as well as for conversion of medical and photographic imaging.
With focused perfection and empowered by quality assurance certifications, both the production units cater to the diverse needs of their respective segments
The Healthcare Division has its hospital furniture manufacturing unit at Umbergaon, while the conversion plant at Dadra is for confectioning of Radiology and Imaging products. With focused perfection and empowered by quality assurance certifications, both the production units cater to the diverse needs of their respective segments by creating specialized high-quality products. With these, the company is poised to fulfil its motto of being the ‘Preferred Business Partner' and has similarly achieved exceptional growth without compromising on the quality of its offerings and has always been maintaining ethical business practices.
Tell us about your team. How is your combined experience helping your company grow?
We have highly-skilled and experienced teams that form the backbone of our company – be it product design and innovation, production, marketing as well as sales. The management team too, is personally involved in the day-to-day activities encouraging and empowering the respective teams to make quick and well-informed decisions.
Even though we have been in the business since 1988, we have the agility and tenacity of a start-up, which has always held us in good stead.
What is the future roadmap for Vinod Medical Systems? How is the company gearing up for the new challenges?
We are constantly in the pursuit of refining our processes, expanding our product offering and creating value propositions for our customers. The VMS Careline brand today has become synonymous with quality. By using advanced technology and best manufacturing practices, we strive to create innovative products with better aesthetics, durability and comfort so that the needs of both the patients and the caregivers can be met as per global medical standards.
