Ottobock in top form – a year full of highlights
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Ottobock in top form – a year full of highlights
Paralympic Repair Service Center opens / Brand campaign sets standards in Paris / Growth strategy confirmed
- Go-ahead for the Paralympic Games
- Brand campaign casts spotlight on Paris
- Digital and award-winning
- Strengthening partnerships in the exoskeleton business
- Half-year results confirm growth strategy
“2024 is full of highlights. At OTWorld, the sector's leading international trade fair, we once again demonstrated our innovative strength with the new Genium X4 prosthesis. Only recently, we successfully advanced our Patient Care strategy through investments in Denmark. Our next focus is on the upcoming Paralympic Games in Paris. At no other time is our purpose as a Human Empowerment Company more visible to the world than during the Paralympic Games,” says Hans Georg Näder, owner and Ottobock Chairman of the Board.
Next destination: Paris
As the city on the Seine prepares for the Paralympic Games following the Olympic Games, Ottobock is already in the starting blocks on site. The globally active medical technology company is its technical service partner, supporting athletes in Paris with a 164-member international team. The Technical Repair Service Center, which has already been opened recently, functions similar to a pit stop in motorsport: Athletes bring their defective wheelchairs, prostheses and other devices to help them achieve outstanding athletic performances in their competitions. “The Paralympic Games are a great opportunity for people with disabilities to come into the focus of society. Their passion for sports, their willpower and their athletic performance are impressive. Our team of technicians also offers outstanding services to provide the athletes with the best possible support, and thanks to digitalised work processes – from registration to documentation to 3D printing – the orthopaedic workshop is more efficient than ever,” says Oliver Jakobi, CEO of Ottobock.
Digital and award-winning
In May, Ottobock already presented Transferscan, the next step in the digital transformation of the industry at this year's OTWorld, the sector's leading trade fair. For the first time, this means that the entire fitting process for people with leg prostheses can be carried out completely digitised: from a 3D scan of the residual limb or socket, via modelling the data to producing the 3D-printed prosthetic socket.
“Ottobock has been driving the digital development of the industry for years. This is manifested in the digitalisation of the trade sector, the use of artificial intelligence and the development of innovative products, as well as in communications,” says Chief Experience Officer Martin Böhm. “With the LifeLounge, we are developing an ecosystem that links everyone responsible for the quality of life of people with disability, where users meet experts from the fields of orthopaedics and medical technology.”
Users demonstrated their global network for the first time as part of the global digital campaign #IAmAMountain, set to music by singer Sam Ryder. Not only did it bring people with prostheses or in wheelchairs to the Eurovision Song Contest stage in 2023, Ottobock was also awarded several times for the campaign.
“The performance at the ESC was spectacular. For our next campaign, we chose an entire city as the stage: Paris,” says Martin Böhm. Posters, video projections and an additional social media campaign will set spotlights in the city during the Paralympic Games. “We will be announcing shortly what we are focusing on. I can already say that you will see Paris from a different perspective.”
New partnerships in the exoskeleton segment
The “SUITX by Ottobock” business unit, which has been developing and selling exoskeletons for ergonomic workplaces since 2018, is also on the road to success. Two new customer examples illustrate how exoskeletons contribute to promoting the health of employees in logistics and industry: Hermes Germany is the first parcel logistics company in Germany to use back exoskeletons in regular operation since July of this year.
MAN Truck & Bus Deutschland GmbH also uses exoskeletons from “SUITX by Ottobock”. Since July 2024, more than 50 exoskeleton for the shoulder and 25 for the back are being introduced at 20 locations accompanied by personal training sessions provided by ergonomics experts.
Half-year results confirm growth strategy
The fact that the company’s strategy is working is also confirmed by its economic development. “We have set ourselves a sales target of EUR 1.6 billion for this year and are fully on track after the first half of the year,” says Oliver Jakobi. For financial year 2024, Ottobock had set itself an underlying EBITDA of EUR 325 million and an increase in the margin to 20 percent.
“Ottobock has already reached many milestones in its growth targets. EQT has supported us with advice and expertise for seven years. The partnership has ended, but we have maintained the momentum we gained during this period and continue to move forward with full force,” says Professor Hans Georg Näder, owner and Chairman of the Board.
In March, Näder Holding GmbH repurchased the 20 per cent of the company shares previously held by EQT. Näder Holding GmbH is wholly owned by the Näder family. In the 105th year of the company’s history, Ottobock is thus once again fully family-owned.
About Ottobock
For more than 100 years, Ottobock has been developing innovative fitting solutions for people with reduced mobility. As a Human Empowerment Company, Ottobock promotes freedom of movement, quality of life and independence. This is supported by more than 9,000 employees. Through their innovative power, outstanding technical solutions and services in the fields of Prosthetics, Orthotics, NeuroMobility and Patient Care, they enable people in 135 countries to live their lives the way they want to. Founded in 1919, the company continues to set new standards and drive the digitalisation of the industry – together with its partners, medical supply companies and international research institutions – as the global market leader in wearable human bionics. Since 2018, Ottobock has been transferring its expertise in biomechanics to exoskeletons for ergonomic workplaces. The company’s international activities are coordinated from its head office in Duderstadt in the German state of Lower Saxony. Ottobock has been supporting the Paralympic Games with its technical expertise since 1988.
Merle Florstedt
Head of Corporate Communications & Unternehmenssprecherin
Corporate Communications
Ottobock SE & Co. KGaA Max-Näder-Straße 15 | 37115 Duderstadt | Deutschland M +49 151 441 616 25 merle.florstedt@ottobock.de | www.ottobock.com
