We sum up the past year
In 2020, we delivered almost twice as many hospital beds to customers as a year earlier, and our equipment went to dozens of countries – mostly to hospitals on the front lines of the fight against the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. At the same time, there was a reduction in demand in the operating table segment, which had been the most profitable equipment category until then.
– We achieved a satisfactory result, better than the plan, which took limited effect of the pandemic situation on our business. We are pleased to have come through such a difficult year for the industry, and the economy in general, with dry feet. In our case, the negative trend concerned a significant slowdown in the operating table segment. In contrast, the intense growth in demand for hospital beds is a sign of pandemic time for us, so to speak. However, we had to demonstrate great flexibility both during projects with extremely short delivery times and in terms of changes in production plans,” assesses Marek Suczyk.
Another of the challenges which Famed faced was fluctuating transportation rates. There were cases when the price increased to a level where the cost of delivery exceeded the value of the equipment ordered. A factor that affected the evaluation of the results achieved was a decrease in demand for operating tables – the most profitable products in Famed’s portfolio. It was only in the second half of the year that an increase in interest in this segment of products was noted, which was a sign of a return to “normality,” giving hope for better business results.
– The pandemic caused prices of medical products and health services to rise. Hospital beds were a very “hot” commodity around the world, but we chose not to raise prices. As a result, we significantly strengthened the capital of trust in our brand. This difficult time was a test for the health care system and the manufacturers that support it. I believe that we have risen to the challenge by fulfilling our mission, that is, to offer medical personnel products that improve the safety and effectiveness of therapy. At the same time, although the possibility of expansion was severely limited due to Covid-related barriers, we managed to enter new markets on four continents. We expanded our customer base to include hospitals in Botswana and Libya, Paraguay, Nepal and Luxembourg,” comments Marek Suczyk.
Today, Famed Zywiec already supplies medical equipment manufactured in Poland to 105 countries. The best-selling model in 2020 was Famed NEXO – the most popular Polish hospital bed. It accounted for almost 2/3 of the total sales volume in this product segment. The key factor in the unwavering interest in it remains its wide functionality. This model can be used in ICU wards, as well as in less demanding hospital environments.