Q: What are Purple Surgical’s core manufacturing competencies?

A: We offer injection-molding machines, tubing extrusion, sub-assembly and packaging, as well as hand, semi-automatic and automatic robotic winders. We produce more than 1 million parts per month at our factory in the southwest of the United Kingdom. Almost 75 percent of our volume is produced in the UK, ranging from suction and irrigation to insufflation tubing and trocars. We manufacture and then assemble parts, we package them, we sterilize them and then we ship them from there. For us, this is an advantage in terms of controlling our stock because we can readily increase or decrease production depending on what the market needs.

Q: How does your portfolio allow the company to build specific procedure kits?

A: At Purple Surgical, we can make any kit required by our customers. As for Mexico, there are some specific needs but most are similar to any other market regarding laparoscopy. Through our distributor partner or directly with the end-users, we understand what each country requires of our kits. As a result, we can completely customize the kit for our clients. If a customer wants an endocutter stapler with five reloads and four trocars, we can do it. We offer a wide range of options to make whatever the market requests.

Q: Aside from your product portfolio, what makes Purple Surgical an innovative company?

A: We try to be as close as possible to our end-users and distributors to understand their needs. For instance, there are mainly two endocutter staplers in the market, the first is sold by Medtronic and the other by Ethicon from Johnson & Johnson. Medtronic’s product has some advantages while Johnson & Johnson’s has others. With the former, the surgeon can choose whatever type of reload they want with the same handle. J&J’s endocutter includes gripping surface technology for reloads, which is also a great advantage. Purple Surgical created a product with the best of both worlds: a stapler in which any reload can be changed with the same handle and with improved gripping  technology.

Q: What potential does Mexico offer for Purple Surgical’s products?

A: Mexico has more than 125 million people. But not only is it a big market in terms of population, it is also close to the US. Many Mexican surgeons have learned from the best surgeons there and elsewhere, so the level of laparoscopic surgery in Mexico is quite advanced, especially in the big cities. The country is a large, fast-growing market with competent surgeons. There are many opportunities in this market to increase our presence and propose our solutions, either in kits or in products that combine the best of both worlds in terms of stapling equipment.

We started from scratch in 2017 and now we are selling more than US$1 million despite the COVID-19 pandemic. In the coming years, we want to double our sales. Despite most surgical procedures having decreased dramatically due to the pandemic, we do see Mexico as one of our most important strategic markets globally. We are targeting customers who are interested in buying high-quality and cost-effective British products.

Purple Surgical supplies high-quality, single-use and cost-effective laparoscopic instruments and devices. The company provides high-level product expertise and industry knowledge to support customers