From the August 2015 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
“Their competitive advantage lies in other things and we, or other providers like us, can do what we do best, which is keep them reliably up and running with a very efficient service contract,” says Shrawder.
Used parts are now accepted
Usually end-users would be reluctant to purchase used parts, but they are becoming more accepted because they have been shown to be relatively safe and reliable and a good trade-off economically. In the past, they would pay the OEM price for new parts and wait for them to arrive from anywhere in the world, but now they are becoming more astute about asset management.
For example, if an organization needs a new tube for a CT it is planning on replacing in 9 months, it may not be a good decision to purchase a new tube that will last for about three to four years. Instead, it would make more sense to purchase a used part that will last about a year.
Parts are usually distributed from an OEM’s central warehouse, but Shrawder believes that is going to change. “In the future it’s going to be about the nearest or the most efficiently available part for a job,” he adds. He believes that the parts industry is going to become increasingly decentralized. The logistics part of it will be more complicated, but Shrawder says that lessons can be learned from other industries like Amazon Marketplace. “[End-users] are being a little more sophisticated about what they do and don’t need,” says Shrawder. “The whole system is becoming more thoughtful and analytical, and not defaulting anymore to ‘if it breaks, I’m going to buy a new one.’”
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