1. My passion is to acquire, both
customer and technical, insight and
convert this to commercially
successful products.
The following slides summarize how
I’ve done this for several different
markets.
Sometimes the key was acquiring
insight, sometimes it was improving
execution, sometimes it was both.
Niall Sweeney BE, MBA.
2. Dental market
Changes I implemented which enabled success
•Redeployed existing technical talent and recruited new talent.
•Increased rigor of design and timeline management by establishing an effective
design review process and creating project management roles.
• Advocated and enabled pilot launches followed by enhancements and scale-up.
Examples of products launched
Midwest® Stylus™ ATC THINsert®
X-Smart®Easy Worlds most powerful air handpiece delivered Increased ability to remove hard to access
Improved ergonomics delivered
through automatic pressure control calculus delivered through tip innovation
through cordless technology
Impact
Dentsply Midwest revolutionizes handpiece Rated #1 Handpiece Air-
technology with the Midwest Stylus ATC ATC receives “CR CHOICE”
Highspeed for 2011 designation
Dental Tribune May 2010
Clinicians Report
Top 50 technology
Midwest® Stylus™ ATC products Nov 2010
This high-speed, air-driven handpiece offers superior X Smart Easy exceeds sales projections and
performance and precision. Top 100 dental wins corporate award 2011
Inside Dentistry July/August 2011, Volume 7, Issue 7 products July 2010 THINsert® exceeds sales projections
3. Orthopedic market
Changes I implemented which enabled success
•Established the practice of engineers directly observing surgical procedures and documenting
problems observed.
•Increased rigor of design and preparation of regulatory submissions.
•Rapid recruitment of talented engineers (doubled group head count in 18 mts.)
Examples of products launched
Oasis AVS Spacer Luxor & Mantis Xia III
Stryker’s first cervical stabilization Stryker’s first line of spacers Stryker’s first minimally invasive systems Significant upgrade of Stryker’s
system largest spinal implant system
Impact
•Launched 9 new products which delivered $57mm of revenue in 2005.
•Created the two fastest growing business segments in Stryker Spine
•Won 3 annual corporate awards for best new product
4. Medical information market
Changes I implemented which enabled success
•Created an ideation process which produced ideas sufficiently defined for customer evaluation.
•Implemented a variety of market research methodologies which enabled prioritization of ideas.
• Recruited a small diverse group and utilized outside services to develop products.
•Established pipeline reviews as a mechanism to accelerate, redirect or kill projects.
•Partnered with enabling companied and customers on a pilot basis.
Examples of products launched
Test result indicative that patient 3 month summary of patient
has a disease which could be
treated with drug therapy results stratified by standard of
care.
Name of patient’s pharmacy
benefit management (PBM) Comparison of physician’s
company. population vs. a broader
population e.g. state wide or
nation wide.
List of drugs to treat that disease
and how the patients health plan
covers their cost. Standard of care followed by list of
patients which it suggests might
Explanation to physician, why they benefit from drug therapy.
received this, who is sponsoring it
and option to opt out.
Formulary Message Population Care
Providing physicians, patient specific, drug coverage information at the Providing physicians with a multi-patient view enabling review
point of prescribing. Thereby, avoiding wasted physician time and against standards of care and making it easier to spot when
increasing patient compliance. treatment intervention is appropriate.
Impact
•Moved internal start up business from being in the “red” to being in the “black”.
•Launched 3 new products.
•Secured customer agreement to fund pilot development.
5. Diabetes market
Changes I implemented which enabled success
•Restored trust, on development team, within BD organization and between BD and key customer.
•Established the practice of customer testing early prototypes and addressing problems identified.
•Engaged all functions and regions in the creation of a multigenerational development plan and the
execution of that plan.
Examples of products launched
Name of patient’s
pharmacy benefit
management (PBM)
company.
BD Pen Ultra BD Optimus
Providing patients with a discreet easy to use means of self injection. A blood sampling system which was superior (less painful) to
Providing Lilly a way to significantly differentiate their insulin. competitive offerings.
Impact
•BD’s reputation as a device supplier was restored. Lilly resumed purchase of Pens from BD.
•BD achieved a proprietary & patented blood sampling system, critical to support its entry in the
glucose monitoring market and which is still selling today.
•BD’s core pen needle business was successfully protected
6. Drug delivery market
Changes I implemented which enabled success
•Led the practice of product developers understanding customer needs through direct observation of
healthcare workers as they went about their work.
•Developed a comprehensive assessment of all safety technology resulting in a technology
investment strategy which the corporation executed.
•Led the development of SafetyGlide and pioneered BD’s first application of stage gate methodology
•Launched SafetyGlide ahead of schedule.
Examples of products launched
BD SafetyGlide™ Needles BD SafetyGlide™ Syringe* BD Eclipse™ Needles *
World’s first single handed safety needle A single handed solution for Insulin, TB, and A lower cost single handed solution.
Allergy syringes
Impact
•Contributed significantly to BD’s growing $700MM safety products business (Ref “The no-stick king”
Modern Healthcare/November 27 2000)
•BD achieved a dominant intellectual property position in safety.
• Gold Award, Product Design and Development Magazine, 1998.
• Design Distinction – Industrial Design Magazine, 1997
•Good Design– Chicago Athenaeum Museum , 1997
*Development initiated by me and executed by other teams