Dynamic Controls is the world’s leading manufacturer of electronic controls for power wheelchairs and scooters. Certified to ISO 13485, Dynamic Controls goes above and beyond industry standard expectations to ensure customers receive the best products possible.

As they continue to develop innovative and exciting new products, they also plan to strengthen their team across Europe through the creation of a Product Specialist role. This role looks to be based in Germany but could also include time in Holland and Belgium. This new person will spend time with mobility dealers, medical staff and insurance companies in promoting the benefits of the Dynamic Controls product range.

At a time when real value is perhaps more important to customers than at any time in recent history, the focus of this new role will be to make sure that the market clearly understands what the Dynamic product range really represents : -

• Highly programmable controllers for better end user experience
• Premium components and casing for greater reliability
• Products to support lower service costs
• Products that enhance the end users life
• Low cost aftercare returning greater total cost of ownership

This new position will be a welcome addition to the Dynamic Controls team and one that will add value to all Dynamic Controls existing and future customers.

Interested candidates should contact Paul Readey - Sales Manager – Dynamic Europe.

Peter Byloos has extensive medical device experience having been former CR Bard European President as well as having held senior positions at Arrow and Stryker.

“Peter’s combined international and industrial experience will be of great value for Handicare going forward when the company enters into a new phase, with a more active international growth plan”, commented Fredrik Näslund, Chairman of the Board, Handicare.

Invacare, a manufacturer of homecare durable medical equipment products – wheelchairs and respiratory, announced yesterday that the FDA had asked them to negotiate and agree to a consent decree of injunction. This relates to previous findings and disclosures at the Invacare’s Elyria facility which also serves as it’s world headquarters.

One of the potential results of this is that Invacare may be forced to suspend shipping certain products.

This is not the first run in with the FDA who issued a warning letter to Invacare in December last year for issues related to it’s Florida facility.

Invacare’s stock plummeted to $14.70, a drop of 29%, however it is up at time of writing to $16.12 (+9%).

Today the lawyers start their investigations as expected which will provide yet another expensive distraction at best.

Borhaug has been instrumental in taking Handicare from a 50 million Euro largely Norwegian company to a fully fledged 250 million Euro international player in the homecare and mobility industry.

The board of Handicare is in the process of an active recruitment process and expects to be able to announce a replacement shortly.

Press release

wHing Power Wheelchair

wHing was developed by SEGULA Technologies and is being commercialized by DrK Mobility. Segula is a leading global engineering company that prides itself in developing innovative technologies, and has 7000 employees worldwide. DrK Mobility is based in the greater Paris area.

The chair offers several innovative features in one single package and according to Handimobility it will be priced at 17,500 Euros, almost 40% less expensive than current products on the market.

Features include 6 wheels (mid-wheel drive), 10cm kerb climbing and multi positioning through a system of actuators that can be set to work automatically or manually. The control panel is very user friendly with easy to use graphical controls as standard. So, no need for the user to remember complicated sequences of joystick movements.

Besides being an easy to use day to day chair it also offers sophisticated functionality with both horizontal and vertical tilt for either full reclining or stand up mode.

A complete breakdown of features (in French) is available from DrK Mobility and here is a fairly reasonable Google translate in English.

According to Hacavie wHing will be showing the chair at Solutrans Lyon this week as well as in Lille soon.

The cost of the knowledge that is being lost, possibly forever.

The cost of being unable to innovate in future, because critical knowledge has been lost.

The consequent cost of its current business being destroyed by competitors emerging who can make a better product at lower cost.

From the excellent Clayton Christensen: How Pursuit of Profits Kills Innovation and the U.S. Economy

So while there is cause to celebrate there is also the realization that there is no cure for this life altering disease which often attacks the young with type 1 and catches others at a later stage with type 2.

As usual lower income countries have the highest death rate by far – 80%.

In fact it is so big that it has it’s own market segment in homecare.

Time to get focused and get rid of it.

If however you do have a choice then the choices are getting better as manufacturers start to produce products that are more consumer friendly. While most products rely on functionality rather than design and aesthetics, there are those that recognize that you really can have both, mostly at a higher price.

Here are recent examples from the Wall Street Journal (where else) of a redesigned walker and nebulizer.

The full story is from the Wall Street Journal

Steady growth in 2011 for EUROMEDIS and 12% expected in 2012:

After heavy restructuring, the manufacturing & distribution group for disposable medical supply and which operates the PARAMAT franchises in France, is not considering any new acquisitions, and is looking forward to grasp the benefits of both a 1,5 MEUR investment in a new 12,000 m² logistic center and focusing on its sourcing policy in Asia.

A subsidiary was set-up in Germany, and EUROMEDIS which is planning to double it’s shops from 100 today, is also growing its export business from 14% today, and expanding into non-woven medic tissues.

More from Les Echos (in French)

Not only that, CEO Patrick Jude has grown the business from about 1000 beds to 24000 beds per year from 1997 and remarks that they have used robots to avoid having to outsource their production to Asia. This despite fairly recent reimbursement reorganization in France.

Their main market is France with overall revenues of 26 million Euro (about 35 million US Dollars at today’s rate) with export revenues accounting for up to 12% of sales.

More in LesEchos (in French) – thanks FG.