Impact Academy World Tour Finishes in Europe

Impact Academy is an interactive and educational employee event with the purpose to connect Orchid’s employees to the IMPACT that they have on orthopedic patients, our customers and the market. It started in October of 2021 with the goal to present to employees at every Orchid location globally. In March of 2023, we successfully completed our first tour.

The event wouldn’t be complete without music, games and interaction as we celebrate and connect with employees around the world and with the organization as a whole. Each location is unique, with a tailored approach to the audience and involvement from site leadership teams. The experience has been encouraging, educational and, above all, fun!

Here are some highlights from our two locations in Europe.

Sheffield, U.K.

Orchid’s facility in Sheffield, United Kingdom, was our fastest growing facility in 2022. The site primarily serves the large joint (knee and hip) markets through casting, forging, machining and finishing capabilities and manufactures both implants and instruments.

Highlights from Sheffield’s Impact Academy sessions include:

• A story from a patient who had two knee replacement surgeries
• Animation videos depicting the how the full knee and hip constructs come together in a surgery
• The purpose of rasps as cutting tools when implanting a hip stem
• How knee femoral designs differ depending on the need of a patient
  • Cruciate Retaining (CR) femorals retain the patients original cruciate ligaments
  • Posterior Stabilizing (PS) femorals have a stabilizing feature for patients with compromised ligaments
• The evolution of hip stem designs moving toward an anterior approach for quicker patient recovery time
• Customer feedback about working with the site
• Video clips from an actual knee surgery

Presenters at this site were:

• Erin House, Marketing Manager: The orthopedic market and Orchid’s global capabilities
• Lisa Hiller, Sr. Manager of Customer Success and Orchid Supply+: End-to-end solutions and providing customer value
• Mike Martin, Strategic Account Manager: Product innovation and surgical approaches
• Zoe Gagen, Associate Commercial Manager (Sheffield): Sheffield specializations, customer feedback and new products

Baden (Dätwil), Switzerland

Orchid’s facility in Baden, Switzerland has the ability to manufacture some full orthopedic constructs from start-to-finish, with both metal and plastic machining, coating and packaging capabilities. Spinal implants are the most common product, and the site also manufactures knee, hip and shoulder implants and constructs. The facility has been an innovation center for applied coating on implants, including bone in-growth surfaces.

Highlights from Switzerland’s Impact Academy sessions include:

• A story from a marathon runner who had a knee replacement surgery
• Animation videos depicting the how the full knee and hip constructs come together in a surgery
• The purpose and benefits of bone in-growth coating as the industry continues to design implants for cementless surgeries
• In-growth surfaces on spinal interbodies
• The difference between a standard and reverse shoulder design for patients
• Solutions for cobalt chrome alternatives for orthopedic implants
• Video clips from an actual knee surgery

Presenters at this site were:

• Erin House, Marketing Manager: The orthopedic market and Orchid’s global capabilities
• Lisa Hiller, Sr. Manager of Customer Success and Orchid Supply+: End-to-end solutions and providing customer value
• Mike Martin, Strategic Account Manager: The customer perspective, product innovation and surgical approaches
• Heinz Ruoss, Manufacturing Engineering Manager (Switzerland): Switzerland specializations, process innovation and implant coating types