Smiths Medical

Smiths Medical is a leading supplier of specialist medical devices and equipment for global markets.

In medication delivery, our devices help treat cancer patients and provide relief to those in pain. Our vital care products reduce hospital-acquired infections, manage patients’ airways before, during, and after surgery, maintain body temperature and assist reproduction through IVF therapy. Our safety products keep health workers safe by helping prevent needlestick injuries and reducing cross-infections.

Principal operating regions

We have operations in over 30 countries with manufacturing concentrated in Mexico, the US and UK, Italy, Germany and China. We sell to around 120 markets worldwide, the US being our largest single market with around 50% of sales.

Customers

We estimate that around three-quarters of our end customers are hospitals, with the remainder comprising the alternate care market such as homecare, clinics and other surgery centres. We have a direct sales presence in 22 countries, with distribution arrangements in some 100 others.

Competitors

The competitive landscape for Smiths Medical is complex as we compete with different businesses across a wide range of product areas. Our competitors include Covidien, Teleflex, B Braun, Becton Dickinson, C R Bard, 3M (Arizant), Hospira and CareFusion, among many others. In many cases, we compete with only a small portion of their medical businesses so comparison between peers is not straightforward. In emerging markets, we compete with both large multinational companies and smaller domestic players.

Suppliers

Our strategy is to engage suppliers in product innovation, value engineering and a commitment to quality. Our goal is to reduce product and supply chain costs, improve delivery performance and reduce the cost of out-of-specification or poor-quality supplies. The majority of our direct spending is on injection moulding, packaging materials and electronics. Among indirect purchases, freight, services, travel, temporary labour and capital equipment represent the majority.