Quality First

Not far from the hustle and bustle of Route 17 in Mahwah, New Jersey sits the facility where the Service and Demo teams within Sales & Service Support convene to provide some of the best quality service Getinge has to offer.

The facility is where our product Cardiohelp is serviced and repaired, along with demo equipment that is shipped and/or repaired for tradeshows and loaned to customers if necessary. Additionally, since 2019, the building has served as an extended production site for our balloon pump.

The biggest repair that goes through the building is the Cardiohelp device – a product that launched in 2011 and is still a great success over a decade later. Between January 1, 2020 and May 8, 2023 alone the facility serviced 3,106 Cardiohelp units.

“We’re servicing product – looking to get it done and back out in the field as soon as possible,” Cord Meyer, Manager, Technical & Demo Services Operations, said. “This team will not cut a corner or sacrifice one piece of quality built into the equipment that they are servicing. It’s quality first here.”

Meyer says the “Quality First” slogan is one the teams at Mahwah take very seriously. “It’s what we tell everybody because we want them to really remember this when they are servicing a piece of equipment. They have to know this could potentially end up on one of their family members someday, and if it wasn’t 100%, they need to think about how they would feel about that.”

The Service team’s dedication to quality is reflected in their work, as the number of first-time failures of a Cardiohelp unit can be counted on one hand, and the number of failures is even less than that in five years, according to Meyer.

When repairing a unit, a team member disassembles it from rear to front and then restores it from front to the rear, a project that takes up to 12 hours from start to finish.

On the other side of the facility, the demo team members inspect products and ensure they are packaged safely to be shipped to a potential customer as a resell or used for an upcoming tradeshow.

Much like how Meyer prides his team on putting quality first, Manish Godbole, Manager, Demo Operations, says the teamwork put forth by the demo team is impeccable and second to none.

“Preparing demo products can be a very tedious process,” Godbole said. “The demo team members have to check and see if we have the correct product to send out and/or replace. They also work very closely with the technicians and ensure they are asking all the correct questions to determine if it’s the right product. They have to have the product knowledge.”

And it doesn’t stop there, according to Godbole. They then have to work with the shipping handlers to ensure the product makes it to the location in a timely manner and can be installed correctly. “We always look for the fastest way,” Godbole said.

Performing and completing tasks in a timely manner is essential to how the Service and Demo teams support the field and Getinge’s customers. Teamwork and collaboration among departments is also key.

“For me, what I see in this team is they can do anything and everything that is needed for the company,” Godbole said. “We help all facets of the company with any type of equipment. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, our techs were packing up gloves and every PPE kit was shipped from here. It’s not just demo – everyone rolls up their sleeves and fixes it.”

Meyer echoed those sentiments saying, “They work as one unit. This is a close-knit group and we work together as one. It’s what we do at Getinge.”