As early as the development stage of new products, our most experienced employees carry out risk analyses and eliminate as many safety risks as possible, right from the start. Our goal is to achieve a system of safety features that simplifies the daily routine for hospital staff and provides additional support in unforeseen stressful situations.

We not only analyse the potential risks of a new device, but also pay particular attention to its reliability. Every design, every material, every interplay between components is scrutinised and evaluated with regard to its robustness. In purpose-built rooms, we test the operability of the machines for customers as realistically as possible and under elevated levels of stress. This means that long before even the first shipment to customers, we gain several years' operating experience and achieve the highest degree of reliability. 

Whether a product truly works well is tested by our usability experts. And good operability is a prerequisite for safe handling of medical technology – even if it is getting stressful in the OR. That is why clinical users regularly test our productsduring the development stage under real-life operating conditions. Safety is essential for them – especially in critical situations, such as in the event of electricity or gas supply failure, when it must provide suitable emergency functions so that the anaesthesia can be completed successfully.

Before we work with suppliers, we scrutinise them thoroughly with our accreditation process. We involve future suppliers in new product developments at an early stage, testing prototypes of components to ensure quality right from the start. For the suppliers of large or important components, we have already launched an induction programme so as to guarantee seamless cooperation from the start. 

Medical products are highly regulated products for which we need approval before we can bring them to market. Proof of safety, quality and performance requirements are increasing not only in the EU, but worldwide. Alongside countless international standards, we have to observe country-specific guidance notes and local prevailing standards alike. This is reflected in the most varied of accreditation applications. We make sure that our medical products always comply with the prevailing legal system. 

The ethos of quality always plays a role in production as well. Even though the components have already been thoroughly tested by the manufacturer prior to their delivery to us, we still test everything again on the assembly line. In doing so, the quality of the processes is just as important to us as that of the products. Highly qualified employees perform functional tests and look for potential irregularities during quality endurance tests for highly complex new devices.

Service quality for us means being on site quickly and being able to provide the customer with long-term support. Over 9,000 colleagues worldwide work in service. We take particular care to ensure a faster diagnosis and reduce exchange times for replacement parts. We also optimise the inspection and maintenance services. Because it is very expensive for our customers when devices are standing idle – and that is something we definitely want to avoid! 

As a manufacturer of medical products, we are committed to a systematic process of market monitoring. We take this very seriously, yet even here we go a step further, because we carry out this market observation for our safety technology products as well. In the course of our market monitoring, we not only assess individual cases, but also apply potential opportunities for improvement to the development of future products.