| 13 T T Virginia Wright Hitting the sweet spot The Christchurch Enztec team - specialises in orthopaedic surgical instrument manufacturing. Enztec REGIONAL Proudly supporting Enztec 1 Tanner St, Woolston www.contex.co.nz 03 389 9296 tleonard@contex.co.nz NZ’S SPECIALIST PROVIDER OF: • CNC Machining • High Precision Engineering • Prototyping • Manufacturing PROUDLY SUPPORTING ENZTEC 03 348 2631 51 Falsgrave Street, Waltham, Christchurch www.contour-engineering.com From healthcare to agriculture, we produce high-value, quality critical products across a variety of industries. New Zealand’s Largest Precision Manufacturer Get In Touch Today www.accord.co.nz +64 (09) 577 0004 sales@accord.co.nz The New Zealand owned and operated company, Enztec, that specialises in orthopaedic surgical instrument manufacturing, has really hit its stride over the last eight years with the enviable figure of a 400% increase in revenue over that time. Thirty years ago Enztec was founded by a surgeon and an engineer looking to solve some of the surgeon’s problems and believing that other surgeons would be equally interested in having those problems solved. They were right and the company grew. Over the years it stabilised a position in the market as a contract manufacturer for multi-billion-dollar global MedTech companies making all the tools used by orthopaedic surgeons. Eight years ago, Enztec made a strategic decision to go back to their roots rather than competing in a contract manufacturing market always looking for the cheapest option. “It’s difficult as a New Zealand manufacturer to be competitive in that space so we decided to focus on solving complex problems and do it in a way that made people want our product because it’s both the best performing and the most desirable in terms of its feel and function,” says CEO Iain McMillan. He has worked with Enztec for 22 years on top of the six years he spent completing his PhD in Mechanical Engineering specialising in spinal implants. Instead of waiting for the next job to come along, Enztec successfully created their own range of products which they market to customers globally. Their growth is exponential: this year is on track to be up 71% on last year which was already 23% up on the year before. “Eight years ago, we were a company of 23 people. Today we’re a team of 115. “We’ve tripled the size of our facility and we’re nearly ready to triple it again,” says Iain. It’s a testament to Enztec’s capability and the investment they’ve made in their people and in the quality of the products they supply to orthopaedic implant companies while keeping both the patients and the bigger picture of health systems in mind. “These days the ways to replace a hip or a knee continually evolves. Our job is to stay hyper current with what we’re creating to enable surgeons to do the best possible job of putting in that joint which can positively influence the outcome of the patient’s return to sport or active life,” says Iain. Surgeons need to prepare a cavity or socket ready to take a new hip, for example, and Enztec have designed a product to achieve that which they believe outperforms their competitors in three key ways, Iain says. “Everyone needs to create a cavity to take the hip implant, but our instrument lasts longer before it wears out and breaks; it’s easier to clean which is really important for health and hygiene obviously; and it’s easier to assemble and disassemble in theatre, so all of that makes for a better user experience. “More importantly if something goes into a theatre anywhere in the world and you can take a minute off each step of the procedure you might be able to treat another patient today, which reduces the pressure on the health system and helps keep costs down while making it easier, simpler and more efficient for the surgical team.” That they’re hitting a sweet spot in the global market is not an accident. Enztec actively pursues clinical insights from surgeons worldwide to feed into their design of products ensuring they are as user friendly as they are functional: that surgeons will instinctively respond to because of the quality of both their design and their manufacture. They sell these tightly machined, finely calibrated components to surgeons, distributors, small companies and global multi-billion-dollar companies. When, manufacturing team is overloaded with an influx of work they rely on other skilled manufacturers in Christchurch, Auckland and Dunedin to help meet demand.
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