Former Siemens CT engineer Bob Probst founded Technical Prospects 18 years ago. From the beginning, Technical Prospects has been the experts in Siemens CT, providing parts and support to imaging communities worldwide. The Siemens X-ray product line was added in 2005, and they recently expanded their offerings to include OEM training in their state-of-the-art 70,000-square-foot facility located in Appleton, Wisconsin.
The company currently services and supports Siemens CT, X-ray, angiography, cardiac catheterization, mammography and mobile/portable imaging units as well as offering new and used tubes with installation.
John Vandersteen, Director of Sales and Marketing, pointed out that the company’s focus on Siemens lets their customers know Technical Prospects’ dedicated employees have the best available knowledge about the Siemens systems they work on.
“We are a dedicated supplier of Siemens medical imaging parts, training and support. We specialize in only one manufacturer — Siemens — which means we will have more parts available in stock at better pricing than the OEM and increased knowledge of the systems and parts,” Vandersteen said. “We are the direct source for Siemens imaging parts.”
Technical Prospects’ growth in recent years has presented many opportunities, and the company’s leadership has helped make the expansion seamless.
“Our biggest challenge has been our growth, but with our great leadership and dedication to the operations side, we effectively manage this growth and continue to improve and increase our offerings to include repaired and refurbished parts for our customers,” Vandersteen said.
In 2014, the company invested in a $1.5 million training center expansion. Their OEM-trained engineers boast almost 100 years of combined experience with multiple vendors to lead its technical support and training initiatives.
The company’s expansion provides functional training/test bays, two classrooms accommodating up to 24 students, a new product repair shop and the expansion of the entire technical engineering department.
“Our biggest enhancement of the services we offer is in the area of training and the classes we offer to the clinical engineering community,” Vandersteen said. “We have also expanded our parts and tube stock for Siemens Artis rooms. We are the Siemens parts solution.”
“We are excited about the training opportunities we offer. The capability of staging 32 bays of Siemens systems for training and quality assurance allows us to test our Siemens parts and ensure they are in good condition prior to shipment and installation,” he added.
The staged training and testing equipment available at Technical Prospects’ headquarters includes the following Siemens models:
- Emotion 6
- Emotion 16
- Sensation 4
- Sensation 16 Akron
- Sensation 16 Straton
- Sensation 64
- Siemens Definition
- Multix TOP
- Multix PRO
- Axiom Aristos
- Multix MT
- Luminos TF
- Sireskop SX
- Iconos R200
- Uroskop Access
- Artis FC
- Artis dFA
- Mammomat 3000
- Siremobil 2000
- Siremobil Compact
- Siremobil ISO-C
- Arcadis Varic
- Mobilett XP Hybrid
- Mobilett Plus HP
Jeff Rindfleisch, Vice President of Operations, reported that the training center is off to a great start.
“We have trained 61 students since the center opened,” Rindfleisch said. “Our senior engineering staff is conducting the training and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.”
Field Service Engineers are among those benefitting from these training opportunities with classes on Siemens X-ray systems that include instruction on three different generators during the two-week class.
Technical Prospects also offers two-week CT training sessions on the Siemens Sensation 10 through 64. There is a two-week class on the Siemens Emotion 6 and 16. Another training opportunity they are providing is a one-week Mobilett class on portable X-ray.
Technical Prospects is offering its first fluoroscopy class in October on the Uroskop Access surgery unit. In November, there is a fluoroscopy class on the Siemens Luminos.
Each of the two-week fluoroscopy classes includes training on the table, fluorospot compact and generator and how the three are integrated to make up the system.
“We are developing one-week CT basics and X-ray basics courses for 2015,” Rindfleisch said. “They will be a prerequisite for other classes being offered.”
Leveraging the quality assurance processes into a training and support opportunity not only improves access to necessary training for its customers but also lowers the cost of doing business.
Growth and an extensive offering of training opportunities are added benefits that Technical Prospects offers its customers. These additional services add to the Technical Prospects mission “to provide the global medical imaging community pre-owned OEM quality standard imaging parts at less than OEM pricing with an honest and consistent reputation due to quality shipping, friendly service and knowledgeable staff.”
Parts and support remain the key aspect of the Technical Prospects mission as the company’s employees strive to meet each customer’s needs in a professional and courteous manner.
Siemens equipment “has always been the nature of Technical Prospects’ business,” said Vandersteen. The company’s tagline “Experts in Siemens Medical Imaging” reinforces that goal.
Technical Prospects also provides legacy support on parts for some Philips CT products, but Siemens has been the bedrock of the company.
“Siemens is what we know, it is what we’re best at, and it is the market that we can continue to perform the strongest in,” Vandersteen said. “A lot of other companies dabble in GE, Toshiba, maybe Siemens; you can’t be everything to everybody.”
Currently their pre-owned, new and refurbished parts are as much as 30 to 90 percent off the Siemens list price. Customers who partner with Technical Prospects are not only getting a bona fide working replacement part, they are also getting a great deal.
“There are several pre-owned equipment companies in the market today repairing parts, but they have no way to test that part and verify it’s working properly within the system,” he said. “We’re bringing to the market an in-house, system-tested product with our proven quality assurance program.”
Vandersteen said each employee takes pride in the fact that we invest a great amount of time and expertise into supporting our existing equipment and inventory, guaranteeing the customer a superior product and overall experience.
A commitment to product repair and support isn’t only environmentally and economically sustainable, but it has increased our ability to offer the most competitive prices to our customers, Vandersteen said.
“A lot of this is because of the model we have,” he said. “We own our own parts, we’re direct and we control our pricing. It’s what gives us the ability to exceed our customers’ expectations.”
By coming directly to Technical Prospects, Vandersteen said, customers can lock in a great price, superior technical support, on-time delivery and quality packaging.
For more information
about Technical Prospects, visit www.technicalprospects.com