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Mizuho OSI

Website: www.mizuhosi.com

Mizuho OSI was founded in 1978 as

Orthopaedics Systems, Inc. (OSI), and

sold orthopaedic soft goods including

splints and braces. In 1980, a

collaboration with Dr. E. Trent Andrews

led to the development of the Andrews

Spinal Surgery Frame, the first OSI

operating room product dedicated to

spine surgery. Following many other

industry firsts and innovations in the field

of surgical and trauma tables, OSI was

acquired by Mizuho Ikakogyo, the

leading surgical table manufacturer in

Japan and Asia, in 2002.

Mizuho further strengthened its offering

through the acquisition of Trilux Medical,

GmbH, a company with 100 years of

experience with lighting and technology

and 50 years of expertise in operating

rooms and intensive care rooms

combined. Mr. Neukirch explains that the

Trilux acquisition added surgical lighting

and pendant technology, a revolutionary

operating room and patient information

integration solution called PARAMON®,

and an operating room turnkey solution

called Triathlon® to Mizuho OSI’s product

line. “These advanced systems allow

us to provide a complete operating r

oom solution, combining our innovative

Based in the US with operations worldwide, Mizuho OSI is a leading manufacturer of specialty surgical tables for spinal and orthopaedic trauma surgery, and imaging based tables. Greg Neukirch, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Mizuho OSI, highlights the added value of combining their offering with that of their subsidiary, Trilux Medical. “The acquisition of Trilux Medical in 2015 has allowed us to continue our journey of providing a complete operating room solution.”

More than the sum of its parts

tables, which are designed for procedure-

specific approaches in spine and

orthopaedic surgeries, and Trilux

Medical’s Aurinio Wave® Surgical Light.

We can now offer a combination of

a shadow-free illuminated field with

unique depth and high colour

rendering. The Aurinio Wave® is the

only operating room light with reLED

technology. These key differentiators

set us apart from all the competition.”

Mizuho OSI showcased their combined

offering at the 2016 MEDICA show,

highlighting their turnkey solution

Triathalon®. “By striving to improve

patient outcomes and delivering

enhanced clinical value, we offer our

customers everything from a procedure

specific surgical table, to a pressure

management solution, a complete

turnkey operating room, and integrated

solutions,” says Mr. Neukirch. “At

MEDICA 2016, we were pleased to have

the opportunity to show the medical

community our comprehensive operating

room portfolio.”

The joint participation of Mizuho OSI

and Trilux Medical at MEDICA 2016

World Forum was a huge success.

“We were overwhelmed by the

medical community’s reception and

embracement of our comprehensive

portfolio and our advancements in our

offerings and integrated approach. We

are looking forward to 2017 and beyond

and are excited about the future growth

of Mizuho OSI and its continued

innovations in the operating room.”

Mizuho OSI created and devel-oped the specialty surgical table mar-ket and is the market leader in devel-oping products for specialty surgery and patient positioning. The compa-ny’s product portfolio of specialty sur-gical tables for spine and orthopedic surgeries, as well as a range of general surgical tables and disposable and re-usable surgical patient care products, are built with the patient’s experience and outcome in mind. “The mission of our company is to understand the needs, and exceed expectations of our global health-care customers. We provide inno-vative solutions, enhancing patient outcomes, through investment in

our people, processes, and services,” Vice President of Operations Kevin Thorne says. “Our division has a very deep product portfolio that specializ-es in an orthopedic-type hip or spine surgery that is very procedure-specif-ic. We are the market leader by a sig-nifi cant margin.” The Moore family founded the company in 1978, initially calling it Orthopedics Systems Inc. (OSI). The Andrews Spinal Surgery Frame was OSI’s fi rst operating room product and was developed in collaboration with Dr. E. Trent Andrews and intro-duced in 1980. OSI focused on ortho-pedic fracture surgery, spinal surgery, and sports medicine during the 1980s,

and in 1992, OSI introduced the Spinal Surgery Table. The table featured the fi rst use of carbon-fi ber composite materials in the structural members of an operat-ing table. This construction allowed nurses to easily manipulate the table and provide a radiolucent surgical platform where X-rays could pass through the table to provide a clear image of the patient. In 2008, Mizuho OSI introduced a more sophisticated version of the product called the Axis Table System. In 2002, Tokyo-based Mizuho Ika-kogyo Co. Ltd. acquired OSI. Today, Mizuho OSI off ers a wide variety of highly specialized surgical tables for spinal, hip and knee replacements and orthopedic trauma surgery, as well as tables for comprehensive im-aging. The company is the nation’s second-largest supplier of over-bed traction equipment and off ers an ex-tensive line of patient-care and pres-sure management products to hospi-tals and clinics around the world. “We created the Hana table, which actually pioneered the anterior ap-proach for total hip replacement,” Thorne notes. “That’s just one of the products we market that makes us the leader in the space.”

Fulfi lling the NeedTo remain the market leader, Mizuho OSI develops and maintains long-term relationships with surgeons and oper-ating room personnel to get a better understanding of the whole surgical process. By doing so, the company dis-covers ways to control and manipulate the body to allow surgeons greater access. “We work very closely with experts to develop better, faster and more effi cient platforms and continu-ously improve our product off erings,” Thorne says. “We produce a product

Mizuho OSI

Market Marvelsmizuho osi innovates in its development and

manufacturing. by janice hoppe-spiers

to remain a market leader, mizuho osi develops long-term relationships with surgeons and operating room personnel.

Westwww.mizuhosi.com / Revenue: $150 million / HQ: Union City, Calif. / Employees: 350 / Kevin Thorne, vice president of operations: “We are the market leader by a significant margin.”

manufacturing-today.com MARCH/APRIL 2017

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Mizuho OSI West

that has the greatest experience for the patient in terms of reducing surgery and improving recovery time.” Manufacturing the latest in specialty surgical tables re-quires a thorough understanding of the clinical need and a core group of doctors and influential people in the orthope-dic industry as consultants. “We have worked closely with people in the industry for many years, focusing on their needs, challenges and problems to determine what their hopes and aspirations are for the market,” Thorne says. “What problems do they have today and where do they en-vision the healthcare market in the future?” Once a need is determined, Mizuho OSI will compare price points, features and benefits to its competition and couple that with the vision of its customers – the doctors and nurses who will be using the equipment.

Quality FirstMizuho OSI focuses on quality over quantity. “It’s more im-portant to get it right and to put something out there that’s unique and well accepted,” Thorne says. Depending on the project, Mizuho OSI can develop and manufacture a new piece of equipment within a few months to a couple of years. “I’ve embedded key members of the manufacturing team in with the research and development team that live and breathe design with the engineers, the marketing team, and clinical experts,” he says. “They are in there right from the first phase and concept development,

the company offers a range of specialty surgical tables, tables for comprehensive imaging and over-bed traction equipment.

SKF USA SKF is assisting medical teams world-wide improving the functionality and reliability of medical equipment. For surgical and procedure tables, SKF offers reliable and long-lasting solutions such as electromechanical lifting functions and linear guiding systems for patient and equipment positioning. SKF components and subsystems are easy to adapt into existing or new designs delivering improved equipment access for patients, smoother and quieter oper-ation, better ergonomics, higher position accuracy and increased contamination resistance. For more information visit our website at skf.com/medical.

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Mizuho OSIWest

talking about ways to realize this product vision. It’s wonderful to have the greatest thing out there, but if we can’t build it, it won’t make a difference.” Mizuho OSI is ISO 13485-certified to design and man-ufacture medical devices. “That’s the foundation driving what has to get done and the minimal level of require-ments,” Thorne explains. “How we implement that might be unique from what others do. First and fore-most, we have a strong commitment to our employees. We have an attitude here that people are the most valu-able company asset and we do what we can to keep them engaged and productive.” That people-first philosophy carries over into Mizuho OSI’s relationships with its suppliers. “We may not have contracts with all of our suppliers, but have more in-tense relationships with the ones we do,” Thorne notes. “They can do things that are superhuman. These guys can change and adjust to market changes and provide mate-rial to us. If I have a push-out, for example, they take and hold it because they know we are good for it.”

Because every manufacturer struggles with non-linear demand, treating people right ensures they show up to meet the challenge. “In the fourth quarter of 2016 we did substantially more than the previous three, and our last month in 2016 was the best in the history of the company,” Thorne says. “The operations team has a can-do attitude. They did what was requested of them, including working overtime to get the work done. The level of dedication and low level of complaint is something I find amazing.”

Lean OperationsMizuho OSI is transitioning away from a push-based system where a forecast model drives production. The company began in late January to change its operation to a pull-based system. When the first two product lines were converted to the pull system, Mizuho OSI reviewed the entire manu-facturing process and reduced lead times from six weeks to two-and-a-half days. “You do something called value stream mapping where you look at the process from end-to-end. Every time you touch something it should add value and move to the next step,” Thorne explains. “We walked through our entire manufacturing sequence and if it didn’t add value asked, ‘Why do I do it?’ We eliminat-ed everything we could.” This year, the lean initiative of eliminating waste will become ingrained in Mizuho OSI’s culture as the com-pany transitions to become an entirely on-demand pull-based system. “We anticipate reducing the total amount

mizuho osi understands the needs and exceeds expectations of its global healthcare customers.

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of manpower required and reducing in-ventory I have to keep in stock,” he adds. “Our targets for this year are 10 percent reduction in labor, 5 percent reduction in material cost and a 25 percent reduc-tion in inventory we are holding.” Although Mizuho OSI plans to reduce the workforce, the company has made a commitment to its employees by public-ly stressing that it will continue to grow because of its improvements. “The goal is to double the capacity we have mea-sured in revenue and not change the footprint on the floor,” Thorne says.

Operational ShiftsMizuho OSI has invested in small ma-chine shops over the years and allowed machining jobs to move overseas but plans to overhaul its machining facility

and do more with the higher-speed tech-nology available today. “We are bucking the trend of outsourcing and offshoring, and instead insourcing and onshoring,” Thorne says. “We want to move things internally where it makes sense.” The company also plans to move from a hierarchical to self-directed work cells in its manufacturing facility. Mizuho OSI’s goal is for its operations team to take signals from the market regarding what needs to be done instead of wait-ing for a manager’s direction and solve issues that arise without going to man-agement. “Something that has driven me crazy for years is that the guy who is touching the problem knows what to do 90 percent of the time, but isn’t empow-ered because it might exceed the dollar value decision-making power he has.”

Mizuho OSI will work toward empow-ering every employee to solve problems and make decisions on the floor – with controls put in place, so no financial harm comes to the company. “Empow-erment is a beautiful word, and most people think about the freedom it gives them,” Thorne says. “When you educate your employees in terms of the respon-sibility it now comes with, it’s not a free-dom of choice, but rather the responsi-bility at the lowest possible level to make the best decision for the company.” mt

Mizuho OSI West

METALfx was founded in 1976 and specializes in made-to-print parts for leading OEMs. Our diverse customer base includes Automotive, Aerospace, Medical, Semicon-ductor and Telecom. Our top rated engineering team pro-vides prototype, NPI and low to mid-volume production support. METALfx employs 135 well-trained team members in an 110,000-square-foot facility that proudly declares “Made in the USA.” Contact mfxsales@metalfx.com for more information.

Published by Knighthouse Publishing Tel: 312.676.1101 Fax: 312.676.1280On behalf of Mizuho OSI © 2017 Knighthouse Publishing. All rights reserved.

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