Healthy growth is medical firm's guiding objective

Wednesday 17 February 2010

Start-up manufacturer of medical ‘guidewires’ (a key tool in non-evasive surgery)

Geoff Baird was sitting in his office at the successful Portadown-based industrial tools and equipment supplier he owns when engineer Diarmuid McAlinden walked in with a proposal.

A few years previous, McAlinden had left his senior role with a leading medical equipment manufacturer, intent on developing a production machine that would be faster and more efficient than anything else in the industry. He had created the proto-type in his workshop at home and needed help to commercialise the project.

Three years on, the two are partners in a Portadown-based start-up business called Lir- Med, which, although not yet in full production, already has agreements with customers in countries including India, Malaysia, Poland and Brazil, employs 10, and is projected to achieve a turnover of £5 million within five years.

Baird now splits his time about 70:30 between Craigmore, his established tools and equipment supply firm, and the new venture. His business experience and knowledge guides the commercial side of Lir-Med, whilst McAlinden, an experienced and respected senior engineer, looks after the technical side on a full-time basis.

The partnership is working well. McAlinden had indeed developed an impressive machine capable of producing medical 'guidewires' faster than any other available. But Baird's business brain knew that McAlinden's plan to build and sell the machine to big manufacturers didn't make commercial sense.

"Making and selling it would not have been a sustainable business. After five years, every bigmanufacturer of guidewires would have one and there would be no more market for the product," he points out.

"The way to make this great piece of engineering into a successful business was to develop the machine ourselves and produce guidewires more efficiently than anyone else."

McAlinden saw the sense in the argument and that's what the two are now in the process of doing. "We set up the business in mid-2008. We moved into new premises at Portadown's Carn Industrial Estate in mid-2009 and we've been working hard to ready the facility for full production," Baird continues.

"Diarmuid has 20 years experience in the manufacture of guidewires and he's been able to build 80 per cent of the production machinery in-house. We're now putting the finishing touches to some of the machinery and will soon move to full production. Given the volumes we have been discussing with the contacts we've made around the world, we expect to generate sales of around one million pounds in our first full year of production.

"With the increasing importance of guidewires in a wide range of minimally-evasive surgeries, there is a big market globally; particularly with the increasing incidence of cardiac problems."

Lir-Med will commence deliveries in spring of this year, with the potential to fill a full year's production through the customer-base already developed. Baird has also earmarked a list of big guidewire buying companies - which purchase large volumes of guidewires to place in medical operation packs that are supplied directly to the end user - to target with a view to filling the order books beyond that.

" The way to make this great piece of engineering into a successful business was to develop the machine ourselves and produce guidewires more efficiently than anyone else."

Baird and McAlinden also have their sights set on further developing the product range and on further improving the production process.

"Something that is of significant interest to us is research and development in the area of guidewire coatings. At present the coatings used on guidewires are the best available, but they are not ideal. We have been talking to local universities and our goal is to be able to produce guidewires that are even safer and better performing due to better coatings," Baird explains.

"With regard to the production process, we have identified a number of areas that we think can be automated and will be concentrating on making that happen in order to further speed up the lead time for our products," he continues.

"We've come a long way in the few years since I first saw the proto-type in Diarmuid's workshop, but we've still got a long way to go. When we're in full production in the near future and satisfying existing customers, the big challenge will be targeting large suppliers to develop the customer-base and then to grow the company accordingly.

"At the same time, continuing to innovate in the production process and product range is essential."
What is a medical guidewire?

A thin, usually flexible wire used extensively within the medical industry. They can be used as an introducer for medical tools such as catheters, stents and micro cameras. The guidewire is formed from high grade stainless steel wire, formed into a spring of various lengths and diameters with two straight wires inserted within.