Infusion pump testing used to be done with pipettes and a stopwatch. In the late 1980s, Datrend Systems developed and patented its first product, the Infutest 2000, to electronically test infusion pumps with better precision and improved efficiency. The same product, along with Oxitest (SpO2 simulator), were rebranded for DNI Nevada until their acquisition.
“While continuing to grow our own portfolio in biomedical test instrumentation, for a period of time Datrend also helped to develop other medical products such as laryngoscope, hypoglycemia alarm watch, non-invasive chiropractic treatment machine, diagnostic testing solutions (think viral testing), fitness sensors and more. These experiences helped us finetune our approach when creating our own products,” explains Datrend Systems Inc. Director of Business Development Owen Liu.
“Today, we are only committed to our product range and will continue to add and improve on solutions for biomedical engineering and testing,” he adds.
TechNation recently interviewed Liu to find out more about Datrend and how it helps healthcare technology management (HTM) professionals throughout the United States and around the globe.
Q: What are some advantages that your company has over the competition?
Liu: Datrend’s quality management system is ISO 13485 certified, which is the standard used for medical device manufacturers. Although not required to produce test equipment, we felt it’s important for us to prescribe to a higher quality management system to meet different industry standards from different parts of the world.
Our leadership group and founders have extensive experience within the industry, one having a master’s degree in biomedical engineering and the other having been a director of biomedical engineering for a number of years. These direct industry experiences really help us to empathize with customers’ challenges and find better solutions to make their job easier.
While we have grown over the years, we have still maintained our nimbleness to react to the market and requirements quickly. From making changes to our software in a matter of days to launching new products within a few months.
Q: What are some challenges that your company faced last year? How were you able to overcome them?
Liu: The global supply chain and logistic network was without a doubt the biggest challenge we’ve had in the past few years. We are very fortunate that our customers understand the situation while we look for ways to reduce their lead times.
Q: Can you explain your company’s core competencies and unique selling points?
Liu: We have a solid group of engineers here at Datrend who can complement each other’s skill set to develop our products from scratch, from PCBs, enclosures, firmware, software, GUI design, and all the way up to cloud and API integration.
Today, we are known for our multi-device automation and CMMS integration running on our Vision-Pad (vPad) platform, but we have been preaching the same message since our Infutest 2000. Almost all our products come with automation, and many are standard out of the box.
It has been almost 10 years since we came to market with our vPad (tablet-based) system and it has really helped us to take our user experience to the next level.
Q: What product or service that your company offers are you most excited about right now?
Liu: In the past, customers had to describe their issues over the phone. These days our vPad users can setup live-view sharing where we can look at the same screen as they are.
Of course, our customer still needs to provide permission for access each and every time, but this tool made our training, support and upgrade so much simpler compared to legacy systems.
Q: Can you please share some company success stories with our readers?
Liu: Just last week we were told in the 11th hour that a customer needed their products calibrated and received before the weekend so that he can use them on-site on Monday. We went through several avenues and found a method to ship and deliver his products on the same day. It took quite a bit of effort, but we were able to make that particular customer happy by minimizing the impact on his business.
Q: Can you describe your company’s facility?
Liu: On one side, we look like Home Depot with our industrial shelving, then you’ll see a collection of all the tools we’ve added over the years such as lathe, milling machine, shears, pick and place machine, ovens. Then, you will encounter some of the more modern tools like laser cutters, ultrasound cleaners, 3D printers, and our two-story tall component management structure that stores a portion of our components and sub-assemblies.
Q: What is your company’s mission statement, or if you don’t have a specific one, what is most important to you about the way you do business?
Liu: Accuracy Matters … Making a great meal requires good ingredients, quality cookware and experience. Making an accurate instrument requires high-quality components, precise instrument, experience and math … a lot of math.
Q: Is there anything else you want readers to know about your company?
Liu: We have been learning from our customers for more than 30 years to be where we are today, and certainly we will continue to learn from them for the opportunity to solve their challenges through better automation and return on their investment.
For more information, visit datrend.com.
