Patient Monitoring Devices from Vin Biotech

This biomedical company has come a long way from making diagnostic kits to high end patient monitors

Vin Biotech Systems Limited began its journey in 1990 as a proprietorship company engaged in the manufacture of diagnostic kits, like Biochemical kits and Clinical stains, Microbiological kits like RPR (Rapid Plasma Reagin) kits, VDRL (Venereal Disease Research Laboratory) kits etc. The company became a public limited company in 1995 and ventured into the manufacture of medical equipment. "We started with three divisions namely, obstetrics and gynecology, neurology and anesthesiology," says P Shani, CEO.

In 2000, the company decided to close down its diagnostic division and focused on medical equipments. "Many were switching to newer technology in diagnostics and our products were outdated. At one stage, we decided to close down this division was a better choice than continuing them," he says. Now, the company is engaged in the assembling and distribution of medical equipments used for monitoring purpose.

The company has outsourced its hardware components. "We import boards from a China based OEM (original equipment manufacturer) company, assemble them here and distribute them," he explains. While outsourcing, the reputation of the manufacturer, the quality of the products and the price are taken into consideration. The assembling unit of Vin Biotech is in Vandallur, near Chennai. It has also laid stringent outsourcing norms and deals with companies that match with its norms.

Product Profile

The company offers a wide range of products in patient monitoring. In obstetrics and gynecology, they manufacture and market Fetal Doppler and Fetal Monitors. "We have a wide range of fetal monitors - lower end models to cater to the rural segment and higher end fetal monitors for corporate hospitals," says Shani. The higher end monitors come with several add on features to suit the needs of the users.

They manufacture patient monitor for anaesthesiology department. In neurology, the company is the pioneer in introducing Tran cranial Doppler (TCD). TCD finds its place as a diagnostic device for stroke clinics. "We have done several installations in South India and some in the Western regions of India," says Shani.

Exports

The company has ISO 9001:2000 certification. It has exported its products to Nigeria and Dubai. It prefers to trade with African, South American and the erstwhile USSR countries. "There is a lot of scope for our products here. They prefer Indian products even if the cost is slightly higher than Chinese ones," he says.

Future Plans

Shani terms the growth of his firm as "slow, steady and consistent." The company plans to start an R&D department and engage in developing new and improvised equipments in the same sector.

"Just as in China, we would request Government of India to help small and medium scale enterprises to set up a Medical Equipment Park and based on the companies performance, subsidise the R&D spendings," he concludes. <