This advertorial is sponsored by Argon Medical.
Spanning 20,000 sq ft, Argon Medical’s new Distribution and Education Centre (ADEC) not only positions the company closer to customers, but also into better alignment with their training and education ethos. Strategically located in Derby, UK, the state-of-the-art facility’s uses are threefold, functioning as a distribution warehouse, corporate offices, and a dedicated hands-on training centre to demonstrate their newest technologies for physicians and distributors. In July, Interventional News attended the grand opening of ADEC and sat down with Argon president and chief executive officer George Leondis and senior vice president of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia-Pacific (APAC) regions Matt Edwards to discuss their plans for the facility and how it fits into the company’s ambitious global expansion strategy.
Education, Leondis shared, has been at the centre of this project from inception and has been a unique identifier of Argon “from the beginning”, running right to the core of the business. “Teaching physicians early in their careers about how to use these devices, or, for example, how to perform procedures such as biopsy or drainage, has been mutually beneficial for us, and has allowed us to gain a foothold as an educator in the space,” Leondis says. “Education is one of the key characteristics we have become known for and one that we’re going to continue to focus on.”
New Clinical Education Centre
The facility’s brand-new Clinical Education Centre can host in-person training demos or virtual education sessions. “This takes our ability to train our staff, distribution partners and also our physician users to a whole new level,” shares Edwards. “It’s not only going to enable hands-on simulation training that can replicate the procedure before the physician performs it for the patient, but it also means we can build a network of key customer partners, enabling us to expand our training and education offering.”
Having already welcomed distribution and physician partners to training sessions prior to the opening day, Edwards emphasises that the facility is already stretching its legs as a virtual and brick-and-mortar education hub, helping them “achieve the level of clinical excellence that we demand for the new technologies we are bringing to market”, he states.
During the grand opening, Argon’s senior clinical manager Anne-Marie Spence provided an introductory session for those present at ADEC and Argon’s clinical team who dialled-in virtually. Using a variety of Argon devices on realistic anatomical models, Spence illustrated the capabilities of the equipment, and the calibre of training offered at the facility. She pinpointed that individuals that have attended training to date have benefitted most from “real-time feedback” when using Argon devices in this environment, so that ultimately, “in real-life cases, they are supported and able to anticipate any issues that they could experience”.
Driving global training
Through education and training at ADEC, Argon is striving for clinical excellence when it comes to its products and their use in practice. Leondis reflected that historically “physicians, sales representatives or distribution partners would have to be taken to a functioning operating room [OR] or the cath lab”, which could often be complex to arrange and carry out.
“We don’t have to do that anymore with this type of technology,” Leondis says, “this allows us to scale what we do.” In his view, the Clinical Education Centre’s ability to facilitate international training from the UK to physicians internationally was previously unachievable. “Now, we can simulate training in an OR or radiology lab with a physician and from there we can show them how a device works. I think it gives us a great opportunity to do this all over the world,” shares Leondis.
From a business growth perspective, Edwards highlights that the education focus of the facility builds into the broader framework of Argon’s future. “This facility ensures that we’re not only fit for purpose, but that we’re fit for future,” he shares, underlining the importance of this mentality considering Argon’s “rich research and development pipeline which is moving quickly”.
“As we gain approval within Europe, the technologies and products we’re offering are becoming more technical,” says Edwards. “With that comes a much greater need for training, both internally and externally. We want to make sure that we support the best technique, the best procedure but most importantly, the best patient outcomes,” he continues.
Supply chain optimisation
Leondis then speaks on Argon Medical’s key pillars— people, product and expansion. Having touched on ADEC’s capabilities, which he stated are a testament to the “world-class talent” at Argon who led the project, he emphasises the “large” pipeline of products and supply-chain expansion which will be facilitated by the centre.
“EMEA has been a big growth driver for us, and in APAC we’re growing well into the double digits in the region this year,” Leondis describes. “If you look back at Argon six years ago, 75% of our business was in the USA. Today, it’s a little bit over 50%. So, we are truly becoming a global business, and ADEC is giving us the opportunity to be close to our European customers and physicians,” Leondis says. Once fully operational, it is hoped ADEC will service approximately 80 countries worldwide.
Edwards details that a “big part” the company’s investment in the facility was to expand their support services. He shares that a key driver for this project was to strategically position customer service teams in the same or similar time zones to customers, creating a “more local experience for direct and distributor business”.
“We’re also investing in warehouse staffing levels as well as our finance and back-office operations,” Edwards shares, “and that’s really where the majority of our investment is going to be placed—in people.”
Leondis adds that ironically “to be a global company you have to be close—you must be able to have people pick up the phone or be able to contact you in real time, and I think that’s one of the ways ADEC really fits into this strategy”.
First impressions
Leondis—based in Argon’s global headquarters in Plano, USA—describes his first impression of the facility, of which he had previously only seen pictures. “I’ve been really excited about this. I was surprised by just how well this has been set up and how beautiful and functional it is. They did a fantastic job on the design, and it was great to see people’s positive reaction to it,” Leondis shares.
For Edwards, the experience on opening day was slightly different, having watched the facility be built from nothing. “I saw the evolution of it as the building was constructed and finished on the inside,” he describes.
Edwards continues: “I remember driving around the corner for the first time noticing that the position of the building is very prominent. This was confirmed yesterday when I brought George here for the first time and he asked me to stop the car to absorb the view,” Edwards retells.
“Every time I come here, I feel incredibly humbled and proud of what the team managed to achieve in a very short space of time and to such a high standard. I’ve also had the benefit of seeing some of our distribution partners come through here for training events, and again, the reaction was greater than I could have ever expected. So, I am very proud of what has been achieved here,” says Edwards.
