Fine-Tuning Healthcare

Q: Analitek has a national presence. What is the company’s strategy to maintain, or even accelerate growth?

A: Internal growth occurred because our markets and territory were becoming saturated. We looked for new areas to work in such as life sciences, which is a much larger market. In the biomedical field, we want to be a company that medical service providers can rely on, knowing that their equipment functions properly and precisely. We connect international manufacturers to national customers and we offer services to ensure the products, equipment and instruments always provide the correct results. In this way, our clients can ensure their patients they are receiving medical services that will improve their health.

All equipment requires a continuous maintenance program. This should happen several times per year, depending on the piece of equipment. Through use and time, all analytical, electronic, mechanical and medical equipment may lose their accuracy and calibration, which makes well-designed maintenance programs a must.

Q: To what extent do you have to convince clients that your products represent an investment rather than a cost?

A: That is the challenge we face. I believe the authorities ensure that all clinics and hospitals are providing services correctly. Our challenge is to help our clients appreciate that calibration and correct functioning is elemental in healthcare. In many cases, this makes the difference between a patient being cured or not. Foreign companies develop the technology and the innovations, new products, devices and treatments, but we ensure that in Mexico all these devices work at peak performance 100 percent of the time.

Q: Which norms regulate the calibration and maintenance of devices in Mexico?

A: We are working with the authorities to elaborate such norms. Stricter regulations and control in this field would ensure better treatment for patients. We are participating in forums and working with EMA and COFEPRIS regarding the shaping of these norms. We are also working with the Mexican Society for Biomedical Engineering (SOMIB) to create awareness about the creation of new calibration and accreditation laboratories.

Q: What ratio of sales in your biomedical business is destined for the public sector?

A: We have only recently entered the biomedical business in Mexico and we mostly cater to the private market. In the future, we will venture into the public sector to ensure growth because the public sector is the main client for these products. In our analytical business, our sales are split 50/50, which is where we will probably end up in the biomedical market.

Q: What new areas will you look to expand to and what will be your focus in 2017?

A: There is still a long way to go in Mexico in health and in the medical segment, so focusing new investment in health and life sciences research makes good sense. It fits with our mission to change and improve the world through the work of our clients. When they reach their goals, we have contributed to future generations having better care and quality of life. Perhaps we will expand our horizons to the north and to the south of Mexico, as we have done for analytics. In the medical area, I think we will first expand to the north of Mexico and then go nationwide. We are also opening an office in Texas for analytics and offer services in Central America.

Q: What is the impact of the security environment on your logistics operations?

A: Our logistics are specific, not massive, so we are little affected by insecurity. What may impact us is the coverage of our clients in certain territories where we need to be more careful. What we need to look after most is not the products that we move, because those are unlikely to be impacted by insecurity, but ensuring that our people can come and go in safety. This impacts us a little, but it is not a major issue.