@AuManufacturing Conversations

Episode 115 -- Oliver Hunt from Medsalv

@AuManufacturing Season 4 Episode 9

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Welcome to this special episode of @AuManufacturing Conversations, which is part of our annual Australia’s 50 Most Innovative Manufacturers campaign.

It's been made possible through the support of Australia Wide Engineering Recruitment, TXM Lean Solutions, the Industry Capability Network, Bonfiglioli Australia, the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre and the SmartCrete CRC.

Be sure to join us on May 7 at the Crown Melbourne for our awards event and the unveiling of this year's 50 Most Innovative list.

In this episode we hear from Medsalv founder and CEO Oliver Hunt, whose Trans-Tasman company has its roots in Hunt's Master of Engineering Management research at University of Canterbury. He tells us about making healthcare more sustainable and more efficient, setting up in Australia last year, and growing a range of products that can be given a second life and beyond.  

Episode guide

1:10 – Introduction to Hunt and his company, which is focussed on the remanufacture of single-use medical devices.

2:20 – Origin story.

3:20 – Surgeon uncle suggests a business idea sterilising expired products for sale and use. 

4:33 – The importance of customer engagement.

6:01 – The size of the company and its spread across ANZ and its impact so far.

7:20 – How they deal with customers (about 120 hospitals across ANZ.)

7:55 – The types of products “not super-low-cost, but they’re also not high-high cost either.”

8:50 – More on products (about 50 so far) that the company deals with.

9:50 – More on essential principles on medical devices. 

11:05 – Quality Management Systems and how they relate to this work.

11:40 – The processes Medsalv goes through for remanufacture.

14:26 – Seems like a great idea. How hard is it to copy?

15:56 – The foundation to innovating properly is a shared vision of what creates value for the customer and the company. 

17:15 – The impact of job creation is overlooked when it comes to procurement.

Further reading

Manufacturing news briefs — stories you might have missed

Victoria gets federal funding boost for plastic recycling and remanufacturing

Things come around for Original Engines Co

People on this episode