Using tech innovation to address global challenges

In the past two years, many manufacturing companies have reported difficulties obtaining key components due to a worldwide production slowdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by surging demand. They have also faced a volatile energy market and rising utility costs, exacerbated by the war in the Ukraine, and challenges in recruiting staff. HEJ’s editor, Jonathan Baillie, spoke to Executive Chairman at Leeds-headquartered medical technology specialist, Brandon Medical, Graeme Hall, and the company’s Chief Technical Officer, Nigel Davill, to find out how the business has adapted.

Brandon Medical designs and manufactures ‘world-leading technology solutions’ for operating theatres, critical care areas, and primary care institutions. It prides itself on the quality of its engineering, on innovation – with considerable investment in R&D, and much of its hardware and software designed ‘in house’ – and on its incorporation of ‘cutting edge’ technology into products ranging from theatre lights to medical AV systems. With a global customer base, it is ‘an acknowledged expert’ in medical lighting, medical power and control systems, and medical AV systems. The company also claims ‘unique expertise’ in providing integrated solutions. This is an especially valuable asset today given that many hospitals now wish to integrate a range of increasingly sophisticated medical devices using digital technology, so that not only will they operate seamlessly together in a theatre or other clinical environment, but will also connect wirelessly to equipment in other locations – for instance to allow streaming of live or recorded footage of surgery to another hospital site for training or knowledgesharing within the surgical community. 

The integration factor