Traco Medical Supply, based in Sioux Falls, SD, has been in business for 23 years. It's a small company with five employees, but it's dedicated to a meticulous process for refurbishing beds and other equipment to supply hospitals, surgical centers, clinics and specialty medical centers. Traco largely does business in the US, mainly with hospitals under 100 beds. But they also have accounts in foreign countries and have done significant work in larger hospitals as well.
"We take pride in our start-to-finish process," notes
Ken Smith, Founder and President. "Traco enjoys the personal relationship established by talking directly to accounts," he explains. "We don't have and don't want a complex phone system that diverts individuals all over trying to connect to the right person for a particular question. Sales have always been a personal business and even with modern technology, I don't think that will ever change. Our accounts become our friends and come back to us."
Indeed, Smith, who founded the company in 1985, picked up the phone himself when DOTmed called. The former gym teacher and pharmaceutical/medical equipment sales rep became one of the top providers of refurbished beds, with two warehouses full of equipment from hospitals, medical dealers and a network of other suppliers. Birthing beds, in particular, are his number one specialty.
"Hospitals kept asking me to help them find specific equipment, so I saw a niche there for me," Smith reflects. (He named TRACO after an anagram of his four children's first initials.) Today, his older daughter deals in medical equipment as well.
While Traco specializes in refurbished hospital beds, birthing beds, OR tables, stretchers, patient room furniture, and power exam tables, they are not limited to just this market.
"We handle a large variety of different types of equipment," notes Smith.
Indeed, he adds, "Just this week we got six brand new Hill-Rom hospital beds." Whether through an over-order or because these beds no longer fit their needs, this hospital was using Traco to find buyers. According to Smith, Traco will be offering these never-used beds at 25 percent less than they sold for originally.
Negotiating brand new equipment is rare, however, and most of Traco's deals involve buying and selling refurbished beds. The cost differential can be significant. According to Smith, while a new Hill-Rom or Stryker birthing bed costs from $13,000 to $18,000, Traco sells refurbished ones from $4,000 to $9,000 depending on age and special options.
The Internet and DOTmed.com have become important trends in his business, Smith says, especially since he became DOTmed Certified.
"Since administrators and managers are increasingly younger, they tend to do more business over the Internet," Smith begins. "We have found DOTmed to be especially helpful in this respect. DOTmed is another avenue in which to advertise and make connections with someone looking for a particular piece of equipment. Accounts tend to look for the newest equipment at a price lower than 'new' and Traco, because it's somewhat smaller, can give them the personal attention so they end up with a better refurbished product. We work very hard to achieve that goal for them."
