Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/932492
20 | I NSIGH T • F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 8 w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m e line includes 12 models that cover body parts from the shoulder to the ankle. e machines are designed to aid and speed the recovery process aer injuries and surgeries. ey move joints continuously and gently within a doctor- determined range of motion, using a mechanical splint. Members of the baby boomer generation are physically worn out, Guy Meyerhofer says, and there's worldwide demand for the devices. In fact, exports account for 65 to 75 percent of business for the OrthoAgility line, the majority of that in Europe and Japan. With more than 600,000 knee replacements and 300,000-plus hip replacements performed in the United States each year, the investment appears sound indeed. A 2006 American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons study projected hip replacements would increase 174 percent and knee replacements a whopping 673 percent within 20 years. In 2011, the company purchased the CPM division of Otto Bock Healthcare Canada in Pickering, Ontario, formed QAL Medical as a division of Quality Assembly & Logistics, rebranded the line under the name OrthoAgility and moved manufacturing operations from Canada to QAL. e CPM acquisition served as the centerpiece of a growth and diversification plan Guy Meyerhofer set in motion aer purchasing Marinette-based ERDA Medical Systems from DeCrane Aerospace Inc. in 2009. With his finance and business management background and more than three decades of experience working in manufacturing, Guy Meyerhofer had always wanted to own his own business. Spouses and co-owners Guy and Sara Meyerhofer renamed the 25-year-old company Quality Assembly & Logistics. ey quickly identified the need to diversify its product and service offerings, which included doing contract manufacturing for GE Healthcare. When the Meyerhofers purchased ERDA, GE Healthcare work made up 75 percent of the business, a proportion that made Guy Meyerhofer uneasy. "You kind of ride their wave," Guy Meyerhofer says of doing work for GE Healthcare. With the CPM line acquisition, the Meyerhofers saw an opportunity that fit the company's core manufacturing competencies while helping even out the balance of offerings. GE Healthcare now makes up 45 percent of QAL's business. e line also was a good match for the Meyerhofers' core competencies. JOINT VENTURE c o n t i n u e d W hen Guy and Sara Meyerhofer were contemplating the soundness of purchasing a line of continuous passive motion machines, the couple needed to look no further than Guy's own father to evaluate the benefits. e senior Meyerhofer, now 92, had both knees and one hip replaced and used a CPM machine as part of the rehabilitation process aer his knee surgeries. Guy Meyerhofer, president and co-owner of Quality Assembly & Logistics in Marinette, looked at his dad and saw an entire generation who could benefit from the line. "As I looked into the product line more, I realized there was going to be a sustained demand for the product," Guy Meyerhofer says. "Baby boomers want to be active as long as possible, and they have the money to do so." "As I looked into the product line more, I realized there was going to be a sustained demand for the product. Baby boomers want to be active as long as possible, and they have the money to do so." – Guy Meyerhofer, co-owner and president of Quality Assembly & Logistics