Rüsch Corporation

Starting point

Rüsch Corporation, an established US and European manufacturer of surgical consumables, was planning to introduce several product lines in Germany in 1999: chest drainage systems for thoracic surgery and cardioplegia catheters for cardiac surgery. Both product classes are clinically differentiated, highly specific and strongly shaped by hospital procurement and user preference.

Three structural data points were missing before market entry:

• Competitor landscape — which suppliers are present in which types of hospital?
• Price and market share benchmark — where does the price range sit, and what volumes are realistic?
• Reimbursement clarity — how is the product class reflected in reimbursement, and where do the additional-revenue calculations lie?

Without that data, neither a pricing strategy nor a sales roll-out could be calculated with any confidence.

Mandate

MEX was engaged for the full market study and the subsequent operational launch. The tasks:

• A nationwide market study in acute hospitals with thoracic and cardiac surgery — from university hospitals and maximum-care providers through to basic and standard care hospitals.
• Competitor mapping with product specifications, hospital penetration and price levels per supplier.
• Reimbursement analysis under the rules then in force (the pre-DRG system and the early preparation for DRG, Germany’s diagnosis-related group reimbursement system).
• A sales strategy recommendation with clearly defined listing priorities.
• Operational delivery of the product launch through the MEX sales network.

Delivery

The study phase ran over several months and used structured interviews with hospital procurement, operating theater nursing staff and department heads in the target disciplines. The survey results produced:

• A market share map by hospital type and federal state.
• A price range overview with clear classes as starting points for negotiation.
• A listing priority list with a clearly defined set of top targets for the first phase.
• A DRG additional-revenue calculation for the procedures relevant to the product class.

That data foundation was the basis for the operational roll-out — with defined targets, an aligned pricing strategy and a sales pipeline that already anticipated the core of what is today MEX Module 4.

Result

Both product lines were successfully introduced in Germany. The structured data foundation prevented two classic mistakes:

• Under-positioning on price relative to established suppliers.
• Missing listing prioritization, with resources spread across too many hospital types at once.

What it meant for the MEX model

The Rüsch mandate was one of the prototypes for what is now Module 3 (marketing) in combination with Module 4 (hospital sales and listings): build a structured market and competitor base before sales resources are committed. Without that base, building a sales operation in the German hospital landscape is too expensive; with it, it becomes calculable.

If you are planning a comparable market study and roll-out for your product class, a 30-minute discovery call is the fastest way to clarify the right module mix.