Athlone-based medical device company, Teleflex Medical, received the gold award in the Shared Service category at the third Irish Medical Devices Association (IMDA ) Excellence Awards last Thursday night, November 12. Supported by Enterprise Ireland and IDA, the awards were held at Dromoland Castle, Co Clare.
Teleflex Medical won the prestigious award for the establishment of a European Shared Service Centre in the IDA Business and Technology Park, Athlone. It was a two-year process that consolidated the International Customer Service at one central hub in Ireland for UK customers and international dealers in Europe, Middle East, and Africa.
Accepting the award, Teleflex Medical EMEA president, Barry McBride, said: “Winning this award has made Teleflex confident to continue expanding and investing in our Athlone facility. This project has acted as a catalyst for significant improvements of Teleflex Medical’s business model across EMEA, driven from our Athlone facility. This European shared service centre has served to vastly improve Teleflex Medical’s ability to better serve the patient.”
Speaking at the awards, Sharon Higgins, director of IMDA said, “The medical device industry in Ireland, employing over 25,000 people with €6.2 billion revenue, is one of the most important business sectors in the Irish economy. The industry recognises that there is an untapped opportunity for Irish companies in shared services model development. The new and unique business models being developing in Ireland, such as demonstrated by Teleflex Medical, significantly increases the value generated in medical technology companies operating in Ireland.”
With five categories in total, the overall prize Medical Technology Company of the Year 2009 was awarded to Crospon, who also took gold in the Innovation, Research, Development and Commercialisation category. Harmac Medical and Baxter Healthcare took gold and silver respectively in the Manufacturing and Operational Excellence category. Aerogen and Baxter were awarded gold and silver respectively in the Skills and Knowledge category. Argutus and Vasorum were awarded gold and silver respectively in the Emerging Company of the Year.
