Nuclear Concepts, Inc. has moved its main operations to Austin, Texas from Orange County, California. The move quite literally positions NCI to extend its parts, service and sales reach nationwide.

"Due to heavy demand by our customer base we can better fulfill the service needs of our customers on both the East Coast and West Coast now that we are located in the central corridor," said NCI Vice President and COO Alex Sapp.
NCI is well-known for 24x7 parts procurement, full service capabilities as well as logistics for multi-modality deinstalls and reinstalls. The company's customers include hospitals, imaging centers, asset managers, and OEMs that require service support.

"We are a tool in the tool box for asset management businesses and OEMs such as GE and Siemens. We have capabilities within our staff that they may not have," Sapp said. "Often times our competitors [such as OEMs who provide medical equipment service] are also our customers. They choose NCI to represent them in the field. I believe that speaks volumes about who we are as an organization."

Because NCI possesses their our own rigging equipment and trucks it better enables NCI to handle deinstallations, including gamma cameras, CT, MR, and x-ray suites, very cost-effectively. Since overhead costs in Texas are lower than in California, the move, more than two years in the planning, is a timely one that enables NCI pass on even greater savings to health care providers nationwide.

NCI acquires several systems each month to harvest for parts or to refurbish. "To maintain quality assurance NCI utilizes its own factory trained service engineers for the removal of this equipment; ensuring those components are handled correctly and packaged for use in the field."

"Customers acclimated to OEM pricing are finding that in this economy reimbursements are being decreased coupled with tighter capital budget plans. These customers have to get more savvy about who they use to service their imaging systems," he said. "Why not receive the same standard of service at a fraction of the cost?"

While hospitals may be hanging on to equipment longer, putting fewer systems on the open market, overall the financial pressures in healthcare favor companies like NCI that help control costs.

"It behooves NCI and the customer to maintain some of what the OEMs would coin as antiquated equipment. Once a system is three to five years old the manufacturers do not want to support it any longer. NCI keeps that equipment functional, working well and does so cost-effectively for health care providers, without having to upgrade to a system they may not require or fully utilize," Sapp said. "The economy right now should inspire small businesses like ours to say, we are here, you needn't go to the OEMs for your service. You can maintain the same standard of excellence."

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