United Orthopedic Corporation—you may not know the name, but you may well have been using their products since 1993. And, based on their presentations at the 2018 American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) annual meeting, they have the chops to, eventually, be one of your standard suppliers.
More than 30 Chinese origin companies (Taiwan or mainland) had exhibitor booths at AAOS. The company with the biggest and, possibly, most enduring impact, it seemed to us, was Taipei-based United Orthopedic Corporation.
What impressed us the most was the way UOC’s management emphasized service to U.S. physicians—explaining bundled payments, for example, and offering a suite of logistics solutions that included a program which can reduce the number of instrument trays required for knee surgery from 6 to 1.5.
This, we think, demonstrates a nuanced understanding of the U.S. market that is unusual for a non-U.S.-based supplier.
Indeed, it is unusual for most U.S.-based suppliers. UOC, in our view, was one of the most customer-facing exhibitors at 2018 AAOS.
A Short History of the Company You Have Used, But Didn’t Know
In 1993, a Taiwan-based distributor decided to begin fabricating its own versions of large joint implants.
The company was, of course, United Orthopedic Corporation (UOC).
Over the ensuing 25 years, this boutique orthopedic manufacturer and distributor began supplying to Taiwanese surgeons and U.S.-based orthopedic companies with private-label implants, and methodically introducing their own branded implants and instruments to distributors and physicians in Taiwan, Japan and Korea.
Today, UOC supplies their own branded implants and instruments to physicians in 38 countries.
In 2004, UOC went public on the Taiwan stock exchange.
In 2017, UOC acquired A-Spine, a spinal implant company.
By 2018, UOC had 700 employees (100 of whom are engineers) and two manufacturing plants in Taiwan. The company is a fully integrated supplier of quality orthopedic implants.
“Even though we make metals and plastics, we’re really a service company.”
OTW spoke with the president of United Orthopedic Corporation USA, Calvin Lin, and, in describing the culture of his company said: “Even though we’re a metal and plastics fabrication company, we’re really a service company.”
What stood out for OTW at the 2018 AAOS, was the theme that UOC decided to emphasize at the conference—bundled payments and logistic innovation to cut costs without sacrificing quality.
