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Celebrating innovation: Insights from AAOS 2024

The buzz of innovation at AAOS 2024 left the SMADE team excited. Guided by the energetic trio of Isa, Elisa, and Claire from our business squad, our stroll through the busy aisles and lively conversations brought us some exciting discoveries. Here’s a sneak peek into what they uncovered during their visit:

Key takeaways

Discovering new innovations: Our team got to see the latest innovations in the orthopedic market up close. With these new technologies, the field is changing a lot, moving towards more digital solutions.
Among the most notable highlights were the advancements in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) solutions such as Osso and Novarad, which demonstrated the potential to revolutionize surgical practices.

Additionally, we observed the growing presence of 3D-printed implants and robotic-assisted surgeries, signaling a significant leap forward in the quest to advance patient care and surgical outcomes.

  • Building new partnerships: Our Dream Team led the way in starting two important
    partnerships with top CMOs, Velocity and Intech.

➡️Velocity is taking a big step forward by embedding SMADE technology in all their customers’ new products. This means that big players in the industry can keep track of their fleets better and improve how they work, leveraging the expertise of their manufacturing and service partners. By seamlessly integrating SMADE trackers into its designs, Velocity empowers its customers with the flexibility to choose SMADE, while elevating their asset management capabilities to new heights.

➡️Intech introduced Trackinbox, the first connected tray in the industry. It comes with everything you need to keep track of your autoclavable assets, like getting one update on where assets are every day, access to S-HUB to track them without having to pay extra, and a guarantee that it will work for three years. With Trackinbox, Intech is helping OEMs see where their assets are, giving them peace of mind and making their work more efficient and reliable.

  • Embracing digital changes: The heartbeat of AAOS 2024 echoed with the rhythm of innovation and digital transformation. SMADE takes pride in pioneering this evolution, recognizing that technological innovation holds the key to addressing logistical, operational, financial, and regulatory challenges. As the industry embraces this digital renaissance, we stand at the forefront, poised to usher in an era of heightened responsibility, enhanced services, and superior patient experiences.

Overheard

During all the busy conversations at AAOS, we heard some interesting things:

  • Ready for change: People are excited about the changes happening in orthopedics. They’re not asking if they should keep track of their fleet anymore, but how and when to do it.
    One OEM (Velocity’s customer) summed it up well: “It’s not about IF we should track our assets, it’s about WHEN we do that.”
    Even big companies are talking about the problems they face with current solutions: “We are using a solution to track our demo cases and trays, but we’re very limited in our usage of the location information they transmit, it’s not appropriate to our use case”.

  • Dealing with problems: Leaders in the industry are tackling their performance and profitability challenges head-on. They are focused on understanding and improving their turnaround duration: “We have a major focus on our set turns – we want to find solutions to understand what it is, and increase it.” The need for a solution that provides reliable, real-time visibility into predicted outcomes has become evident. Such a solution like SMADE would foster collaboration for improved processes and operations, as well as facilitate targeted, immediate, and efficient actions.

  • A bit of fun: Among all the serious talk, there were some lighter moments too. Over 200 people were on a mission to find free coffee.And “one last thing”: We heard a story about this tracker in a sterilization tray, not made by SMADE, and let’s just say it had a bit of a meltdown…literally! Yep, it went boom in the autoclave! 🙁As AAOS 2024 comes to an end, the spirit of innovation and collaboration lives on, pushing us towards a future where our industry is better than ever.