Hamburg medical technology company strengthens global market leadership / seca strengthens global market leadership and forecasts the end of the scale

• Expands global locations, acquires reliable service quality and moves closer to users
• Innovations drive the revolution in diagnostics and treatment
• 2017 is the year of sustainable diversification and internationalization

In 2016 seca secured and reinforced its worldwide market leadership with more than 50 percent market share in the field of medical measuring and weighing. Growth is attributed to innovative technologies related to Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis and 13 foreign subsidiaries.

13th branch office opens in Colombia / Germany grows again
Interest in innovative medical technology products has been growing in recent years in Central and South America. To take advantage of this growth potential and to better serve particular needs, seca opened the branch seca américa latina in Bogota in January 2016. The company thus builds on the success achieved by the previously established subsidiaries in Mexico and Brazil. Except for the markets in those two countries, the business in Latin America will be managed from Colombia. With the new branch seca takes another step toward securing long-term success in the region and pushes expansion into global growth markets. 

 Europe too is slowly but surely recovering from the financial crisis brought on by the collapse of Lehmann Brothers and once again is serving as a growth engine for the business. "We are particularly happy about the development we are witnessing in Germany," said Robert Vogel, one of three managing directors at seca and the responsible party for international Sales and Marketing. "After a long time, we are now seeing double-digit growth again." That growth is reflected in headcount. In the Hamburg headquarters alone the number of employees increased by 12 percent compared to prior year.

Acquisition of service company Biocordis / International service roll-out
In June 2016 seca took over the French service provider Biocordis in order to offer sales and service from a single source in France, home of the company's second-largest branch. seca France remains responsible for sales of measuring systems and scales and for the technical service portfolio for scales while Biocordis takes on responsibility for the service of all other medical products. "Time in routine medical work is tighter, demands on quality are greater and products more complex. Consequently, the need for supportive services is growing," said Vogel. "We see great potential for growth in service." The investment has already paid off. By bundling the competencies of seca and Biocordis, seca won the contract from UGAP, the largest purchasing consortium for equipping public and private hospitals in France. seca now equips 600 French hospitals with products and provides technical service for all scales, regardless of the brands involved. seca has made a good start in expanding the successful technical service concept in the international market.

Development into software and system provider / Innovative technologies secure the lead 
Time is a precious commodity and the demands for precision and zero defects are high. Furthermore, medical personnel are facing ever tougher requirements in times of malnutrition in hospitals, persistent problems with obesity and increasing rates of cancer. Products for medical measuring have to do much more today than simply capture the patient's weight. To have a hand in shaping the future, seca invests time and effort in collaboration with medical users in the research and development of new technologies. "In ten to fifteen years scales as we know them today will hardly be present in the medical field," said Frederik Vogel, managing director for Technology. "It's been a long time since we offered only scales and measuring stations and have instead been developing into a software and system provider. Our products communicate with each other, measure body composition precisely with Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) and determine the patient's health status and nutrition condition so accurately that we have had the products validated against respective gold standards in clinical studies. We have the chance to revolutionize diagnostics and treatment and secure our market position in the process."

Outlook for 2017 – Diversification and internationalization create growth opportunities
In 2017 seca intends to pursue its role as innovation driver in the market of medical measuring and weighing. To maintain growth and retain market share, seca will penetrate new application areas and venture into new countries. Entry into the market of vital signs measuring with the launch of the medical Vital Signs Analyzers (seca mVSA) is the first step toward establishing innovations in territory new to seca for products and destinations alike. "We are not resting on our laurels," said Robert Vogel. "We want to be the best in medical measuring and weighing and diversify our portfolio. In 2017 we will move closer to our customers around the world and launch several new products on the market to meet that goal."

seca gmbh & co. kg
Anika Otto, PR-Manager
E-Mail: anika.otto@seca.com 
Tel.: 49 40 20 00 00 411
http://seca.com

seca – Precision for Health
Since 1840 seca has perfected the skill of developing innovative weighing technology combined with practical functions and has become the world's market leader in medical measuring and weighing. seca measuring systems and scales are sold by 13 branch offices and exported to 110 countries. The seca service network guarantees continuous maintenance of the precision instruments. To provide doctors and medical personnel with professional support, seca maintains close contact to users and tailors innovative products to the exact needs of their medical applications. Examples include the medical Body Composition Analyzer (mBCA) which analyzes body composition by means of Bioelectrical Impedance Measurement (BIA), and the seca 360° wireless system which supports doctors with diagnoses. Ultra-modern production technology, durable materials and a worldwide quality management system ensure top-level product standards.

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