Thursday, June 10, 2010

Are Heads Starting To Roll at Synthes?

Word on the street is that Hansjoerg Wyss and the Board are beginning their cleanse. No fellow readers, they are not on a 21 day diet. If rumors are correct, it seem that the first to go is Hansjoerg Emch, no, this isn't an ethnic cleanse. Synthes was once a stellar company. They were the "gold standard" in trauma, and actually made some early inroads into spine. Like any legacy company, they became complacent, they became fat, they spent too much time chasing the skirts and smoking cigars, while the other companies focused on Synthes strengths, and took advantage of their weaknesses. They have become a mirrored image of the company they use to make fun of, Xerox, I mean Zimmer.

There is no question that they greatest marketing tool that this company once possessed, AO/ASIF resident and attending training, no longer holds the same weight it once did. Companies like NuVasive have taken it to another level, and, in return they have reaped the benefits. So if any of these rumors are true, there's a hard rain gonna fall on some of the misfits and miscreants that have managed and led this company into mediocrity. You know what TSB always says, "no one likes the truth, it's a bitter pill to swallow." Could this be the company that moves over so NuVasive can climb up the ladder? TSB wants to know what our readers have heard.

PS: If Wyss is listening, fire Birchler's ass or banish him to the Gulag.

91 comments:

  1. So, it’s OK for you to name people, but if anyone else does it, then you banish there blog from the site!

    The more i read this site, the more i am starting to think you’re not as impartial as you say you are.

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  2. Unfortunately Wyss is one of the worst "skirt chasers", or as I liked to call him - a dirty old man. If there wasn't so much fear rolling through the halls of West Chester it would have come out long ago.

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  3. Synthes thinks they can cut reps territories and get any joe off the street with a college education to cover cases. The good reps all leave and the ones still around will get cut and leave also. Nuvasive is hungry and most Synhtes guys are not. I say 100% Nuva passes them up. The AO is great but the surgeons loyal to it are getting fewer and fewer. Its to bad cause Synthes used to be a company people looked up too.

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  4. Hmm, this is interesting. From MM's description, you'd think Synthes was just another run-of-the-mill company ("inroads into spine"?).
    Last time I checked, we're they butting heads with J&J for the #2 spot?
    Agreed, AO courses don't have the appeal they used to, because other companies got wise and started courses of their own.
    To me, Synthes has always been a pretty quiet company -- little drama. This comes as a surprise. But at the local level, I know a lot of docs in a lot of markets that think highly of their Synthes reps, especially the tenured ones.
    So I have to ask, MM: why the beef? And who is Birchler?

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  5. with all due respect, this post reads like a cafepharma thread...

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  6. Emch probably got the shaft because too few products will be released in the next couple of yrs by our product development crew (also explains why the Head of PD was let-go). Emch was fair & well-liked. Too many underperformers exist in Sr mgmt roles here and the personnel who know their stuff ultimately decide to leave because of it.

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  7. MM has obviously got an axe to grind. Either that, or he works for NuVa (another good company).
    Synthes is in the game like the rest of us, but I've always admired them as one of the few who actually plays by the rules.
    Weird post.

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  8. YEah you have to give take your hat off for that. Synthes is the most straight forward trustworthy companies out there and they dont partake in the funny business that this industry has become. Much respect.

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  9. Just reporting what"s been heard on the street. No need to grind an axe, my axe is pretty sharp and always tuned. Thanks for your opinions, why not just read the post and take it for heat it"s worth. Too much paralysis by analysis, it's a blog

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  10. Care to translate that last comment, MM? I don't speak Corporatetoolese, so the only part I understood was the first sentence (where you admit your source is cafepharma).

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  11. Synthes biggest problem is Regional Manager...these are usually very successful reps, who then get ASCs who wind up covering all their cases....the next step is Manager and the guy/gal hasn't really worked in three or four years....Also, since Emch is gone, the queen must go next. Bye-bye KB.

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  12. This blog is great! Makes me laugh. Thanks MM!

    Synthes is trustworthy? Are you serious? Maybe SUSA (trauma) a little bit but does anyone remember them bypassing the FDA to kill 3 people with Norian?

    I could think of 2 reasons why Emch is leaving:

    He wants to devote 100% of his time to windsurfing and chasing women he can't get.

    Or

    He royally screwed up and the fact that his dad is best friends with Wyss can't save him anymore.

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  13. I have to echo the previous post. Plays by the rules? You obviously have no clue. Ask Synthes why they "hid" some of the people directly involved with the off-label promotion of Norian with barium. As in transferred them to other areas and into the field so that they were harder for the FDA to locate in West Chester. Sure, real "class act" this company.

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  14. Don't need to read Cafe Pharma or whatever you call it. All I have to do is open my spineblogger e-mail there is plenty of a lowdown on the industry on a day to day basis.

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  15. Another major issue with Synthes is one that cannot seem to be addressed: Pedicle Screws. Does anyone else find it incomprehensible that Synthes is still trying to peddle Click'X? Pangea was a failure of epic proportions and now Matrix seems to be following down the same path. How can a company be this inept? Synthes has some great reps. However, there seems to be little going on from the RM's on up. Getting rid of Emch and Nichols was a great start. Now if they can get someone to sashay Birchler's pretty little self back to San Francisco, they might be able to salvage a once great company.

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  16. Nichols, aka Opie, was useless. He was only at Synthes because of the ProDisc acquisition. Someone finally realized that served no purpose. Like TSB said, this is the start of a major cleanse.

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  17. I went to grade school with a Hansjoerg. We would pay him a quarter to eat crayons. We would get about $1.50 together each day, than gather around and watch him peel the paper back from each crayon and stuff them in his mouth.

    After a few weeks the novelty wore off. but each student started to notice they were missing more and more crayons from their crayon box. That is how reps feel about working at Synthes

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  18. Synthes should have known there was a problem when a nationwide pool was established with a weekly $1000.00 payout to the first rep who snaps a picture of a RM in a case. The pool is cumulative and the pot is a 1.2 million.

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  19. All one needed to see was Hansjoerg at the National Sales Meeting doing a train down the water slide with Leatherface Lucy and Dory Come Dumpster to see that he was out of control. Or maybe it was his swaying on stage. Or maybe it was considering NuVasive or Globus to be "insignificant and small" players. Synthes has made a wise choice. We are a better company today. There is still some more cleaning up to do, but this is an excellent start. If Kurt goes and they restructure how the break up territories, then Synthes has a chance. Also, PD needs a serious infuse of talent. This is a wait and see situation, but someone at Synthes has finally seen the light.

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  20. All of you smart folks that are slamming Emch and Nichols seem to forget that in their tenure they took Synthes from a distant #3 to #2, beat Medtronic at their own game (IP on the keel), withstood a Company-Killing event (the Norian indictments), withstood an onslaught from competitors copying their products, targeting their salespeople and surgeons, and all the while not engaging in "buying surgeons" like some other companies, and without a ground-breaking biologics or pedicle screw system... Certainly nobody is perfect, but I think they were pretty darn good.

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  21. A few interesting things of note here regarding Synthes. Two of the biggest assets Synthes Spine possessed were the AO and their exclusive relationship with MTF. Before PEEK ruled, Synthes owned it because MTF really can make a claim as the superior tissue bank. Additionally, the AO courses were regarded as the best, bar none.
    How things have changed ... most surgeons are using much more PEEK now, especially in the lumbar spine where the cases bill out higher. Additionally, companies are finding other ways to offer education.
    How will Synthes adapt and gain ground they formerly had? We shall see...

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  22. For anyone supporting Nichols and Emch, explain how it is possible to keep them in place or support them when Synthes has been without an up-to-date pedicle screw system for years? They had to go and Birchler should be next. Maybe they should give Kurt an expansion territory near Barclay Davis.

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  23. Considering Wyss's predilection for Harvard and its B-School it is interesting that Synthes is turning into its own business school case with everything going on....AO demise...Norian Debacle...passing up Infuse...lack of new technology...Globus...etc...etc.

    Maybe too much time spent in Tucson? at the winery? Or wilderness initiatives?

    Not to take away from TSBs musical associations, "Isn't it ironic?"

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  24. I am a former SS consultant. I never had the pleasure of working for H. Emch (i believe he is actually Wyss's nephew.) Many days I still wish I were involved with SS. Since this is a slowww moving organization I am sure not much has changed (except maybe Birchler came out?). SS has some of the the best reps in the industry. I will always thank them for their great training program. They do have some good RM's. But the majority are reps who could not make it a reps so worked their way in to a promotion. Mostly poor RM's. and terrible AVP. It is a good ol' boy network and the best ass kisser and incompetents get moved up. Let me name some of the inepts for you Kobakof (drops the f-bomb and n-word in front of surgeons), Pannenberg (did not know difference between an MRI and C-Scan, bold face lied about reps, hit on female reps, and many other numerous offense to list). SS has and had some great products, however the reason their is a Globus, and many very successful ex-SS reps that are now distributors if because of the poor RM's and majority of AVP and Birchler. They piss down your leg and then tell you it is raining. When sales people realize that the enemy is within (upper mgt) they leave. The best thing that can be done is clean house, most of these folks have no real talent. The people with the talent have left or keep leaving because after seeing their incomes cut in 1/2 over the last few years they see that this is a plan. Neutralize the rep and then conquer. Tovey recognized this and left earlier. Mgt did not want this to happen again and the rest of the SS saleforce suffered.

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  25. Barclay Davis, one of the few with talent, honor and ethics. He could provide leadership to SS, but the idiots running the company realize this and would never let him get close to that role. They would be exposed for the the fools that they are!

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  26. Here here! Barclay is a great guy.

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  27. Similar to our present government situation here in NY, everyone seems to point out the flaws, but has no solution. Is firing the head of PD, calling for Kurt's head, or Emch stepping down really going to solve the problems that you have all pointed out? Changes in upper management might shake things up, but then we will be weaker than some of you are eluding to. Is attacking Lucy or Dory who have always been available for us really solving the issues Synthes has? Seriously, we had a blast doing the Synthes train, no need for personal attacks. And, to clarify, it was not Lucy on the train, I was there, it was the other Jackie who was at session 2 of the sales meeting. The industry already thinks that we are a sinking ship, and all the infighting doesn't do anything but boost them more. Sure, there are days we don't like our management and our coworkers, but let's not give our competition any more reason to jump all over us.

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  28. Great post MM. Synthes is really in deep dodo. All comments are dead on although I likely HJ Emch back in the day when he was a product manager. Let's see who takes over now. You left out the biggest A-hole of them all, Steve Schwartz. He was the biggest ass kissing, hard headed, AO lap dog fool there.

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  29. Competition has dealt with our mgmt, heard the stories and know that they can take significant market share away from the dittering giant called Synthes. They also see incompetent personnel being promoted and I don't expect much will change here, except the surgeons will eventually adopt others' products & not ours.

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  30. Amen fellow AO bretheren. Schwartz is what we used to call a 'power tool' in college. Emch may have been ok as a PD but as soon as he skipped sales straight into management he became a total prick!!

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  31. Schwartz was and is a wannabe. He went to UCLA, was a scrub tech, was hired into customer service, became a regional mangler, got married, got dumped, and all for the love of the AO. Wyss just doesn't know how to give up on some of these people. When he brought some of the former misfits from Ethicon into Synthes, that was the beginning of the end. There's something to be said about the aberrant behavior that exemplifies the Swiss culture. Go figure

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  32. Jackie Cafe Latte was also on that train...Synthes even screwed up that hiring. They hire Latte and then Big Step Daddy Expresso bolts for NuVasive. This company is F'ed three ways till Wednesday. Hopefully someone straightens things out and saves all the good people who actually work for this company. Synthes had potential to be great. Now, I'm not so sure.

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  33. personal attacks and crude and evil nicknames should be beneath you - you are professionals. while having a forum available to express your views is indeed your constitutional right... keep in mind that the people you are having so much fun trashing have families and friends; and work really hard every day to do a good job. your frustrations may be well-founded, but calling people out, by name, in a vicious manner is a terrible way to articulate your concerns. bad karma....

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  34. Thin skinned commentators always attempt to take the moral high road when reacting to our bloggers responses. It's acceptable for management to affect people's lives by restructuring their earnings by cutting territories, firing people because you don't respect their opinions, and not being accountable for their own actions. Managers or leaders who behave in this manner have too much time on their hands, doing nothing. Everyone can't be bad or incompetent, can they? Investors always marvel at the unprofessional atmosphere that is prevalent within our industry. Some of the people mentioned by our commentators should have thought about the consequences of their actions when they were flexing their power. As TSB has always stated, "the same people you step on, on your way up, will be the same people that step on you on your way down." Remember the people writing comments have families and friends and work extremely hard just like the people that you defend. For those that attempt to diminish the quality of this site by comparing it to Cafe Pharma, thanks for sharing your tabloid mentality with our readers. Snap out of it. IT'S A BLOG, IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE CONTENT, DON'T READ IT, in all likelihood you will probably sleep better at night. Remember TSB's analysis: "Shit doesn't roll up hill, it rolls downhill. The inmates don't run the asylum, the warden and his correctional guards do.

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  35. Did he just call all of us "inmates"? He's not the warden, more like King of the Inmates/Dorks a la Sixteen Candles.

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  36. MM you are right about one thing, "the same people you step on, on your way up, will be the same people that step on you on your way down." Does this apply to you; do your references checkout when you apply for a job?

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  37. schwarte aka Colonel Klink. Shuuultzzz!

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  38. This is little more than a classless dogpile. Synthes is a great company. You don't get to #2 any other way. Maybe they hit a lull? Maybe they made some bad hiring decisions? Maybe some of their employees have gone/should go? These things happen in a company this size. Clearly, they have recognized this, and are making changes.
    The squeaky wheels gets the grease, and the disgruntled underachievers usually make the most noise. I say "usually," because there's no question that a company this large with that much history will make mistakes over time. I'm sure many of you were legitimately wronged.
    But geez, show some character - one thing that everyone agrees is deficient in this industry compared to years past.
    Some might leave. Most will stay. At the end of the day, still a sustainable company, in my opinion. I doubt they're going anywhere.

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  39. Totally in agreement MM!!! Synthes Sr leadership will get what's coming to them: shrinking margins, diminishing market share and no respect.

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  40. Synthes was a great company. But like most great companies, they become complacent. Look at MSD, look at DePuy, look at Stryker. They continue to build upon a culture that was good for the time. Companies that grow have an inability to change. Most legacy companies have a difficulty in adapting to changing times. That;s why companies like NuVasive succeed. You don't have to like the company, you can call it a one-trick pony, but as long as their pony is in the lead and changes with the times, the race goes to the swiftest.

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  41. Anonymous 12:34

    It's a Blog and a successful one at that. If you don't like what is posted, DON"T READ IT. Remember, you don't pay for a subscription like other platforms that sugar coat everything that goes on in the industry.

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  42. Hope the irony's not lost on you while you accuse us of having a tabloid mentality...

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  43. One of the greatest managers I ever had works for Synthes Spine, Dave Hole. He was hard working, always available and most of all I was not embarrassed to introduce him to my surgeons. That company has talented people in its Regional Manager positions, usually highly successful former reps who retain great reputations. Their greatest assest is they understand the job. The list reads like a who’s who from the field. If you want a manger that is unethical go work for Globus. If you want a micromanager that will stand in cases with you go work for NuVasive. If you want to feel like your job is on the line work for Stryker. At Medtronic you can work for an empty corporate wind bag who is trying to repeat the right combination of business clichés to get a promotion. The Depuy management team, despite having great product to sell, can’t form a consistent strategy and has hurt the company far more than helped it. Companies are no better than the people that make it up. I was proud to work for Synthes and wish I had never left. The landscape will look very different several years from now and Synthes will remain at the top because it keeps people like Dave Hole.

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  44. I agree!!!! Dave Hole rocks! He knows the business he is in and he supports his reps. He steps up when he needs to and knows when to drop the hatchet! Good man... Dave Hole.

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  45. REALITY: We will look back at this blog 2 years from today and Synthes will remain a spine market leader. These big companies have too much momentum to fall. All of the managers that were terminated will be retained by other organization and life will move on. Just like we should all move on to the next blog.

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  46. Give me a break... companies momentum? Good mgmt? A company is succesful because of the decisions it makes and the hard work of it's employees who need to be incentivized. Synthes lacks an efficient decision making process (all hail Wyss) and its employees, except for Sales, checks out at 5 pm sharp. Meanwhile competitors will take advantage of its laggard leadership. You're right - 2 years from now the market will be different as Synthes will continue its slide: top line growth will be stunted in the US and EU, many of their products will be commoditized and profits will continue to decline.

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  47. Hey, wanker, just because we're not onsite at 5:01 pm doesn't mean we're not working. Just so happens there's this new technology that allows us to work nights and weekends from the comfort of our homes. And you (or, better yet, the TBH who replaces you) will be thanking us for our extra, commission-free work once those new products do finally hit the market. Jerk...

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  48. I heard Synthes personnel were antagonistic towards one another & the culture only reinforces it. Seems my friends at Synthes and those who left were telling the truth!

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  49. Me too! I also heard a bunch of stuff about Synthes on cafe pharma!

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  50. MM gets a little pissy about this blog and comments left by people defending Synthes. Maybe he's the one that needs to realize that he doesn't have to read the comments. MM, if you don't like all the comments left by some, why not get rid of the option to leave them? Until then, get back into bed with MSD, Stryker, Depuy, or whoever it is you're sleeping with.

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  51. so let me get this straight, a manager that goes into cases with reps is considered a micromanager? I would call that an Asset

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  52. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  53. If you need "your manager" in a case than you suck as a rep. If your manager is in your case, then he/she sucks too. What a waste of time and redundancy. Get selling.

    By the way, Dave Hole is a good guy. I use to compete against him and he isn't slimy, at all. Good to hear he is doing well.

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  54. A Manager should be in cases with the top docs at least once a month....anyone who doesn't see the value in this should probably take a business class. Surgeons, I have heard, have rather large egos that need to be stroked from time to time. A simple visit to an quick case is what every manager should do. Also, it allows the manager to establish a relationship with surgeon on his/her own. Instead, Synthes sends managers in when the reps leave and the managers have to try and smooth things over with docs they dont know. Big Mistake.

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  55. 8:56 - Again, another blanket, uninformed comment. Does that happen all across the country with Synthes? From where I'm working and have worked, I can assure you it doesn't.
    Sorry you're experience wasn't the same.

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  56. The biggest problem Synthes has is the same problem that Danek, Depuy and Stryker share although for years Synthes was much better at dealing with it. The big companies are all trying to protect business and margins and the smaller, more nimble companies are busy innovating and growing the business. And before you start trashing the small companies where do you think they learned about consultants, royalties and selling on price. Why yes they learned it from Danek who had more consultants at one time than the rest of the industry, was on every national contract and routinely came in the lowest price on local agreements. I have seen Danek sell the Orion plate for $900 with screws so save me the holier than thou bs MSD. Unfortunatley or Fortunately Synthes problem now is they are the least aggressive company in terms of discounting in an industry that is headed for lower prices. I hope there are no Synthes employees still reading the comments but if there are keep holding on to that pipe dream! Your biologics suck too!

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  57. Lets them implode. More for the rest of us. Survival of the fittest. Your either growing or your dying.

    Oh and if you people ever talk smack on another spine company again I'll agree with you. Smack is 50% truth. Honest. I tested it per ASTM F1717. HAhahahahahaha!!!

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  58. Synthes is fading fast. New products have halted. Same ideas recycled over and over....poor company is like a 7th grade version of the Wizard of Oz...With Emch gone, Dorothy is running the sales show...you have an Antiquated training program run by the Wicked Witch (who might just melt if you throw water on her) and a decrepit little Munchkin (who lipo'd her FUPA and now likes father/son action....all of which she thinks makes her hot)....and finally a series of RM's with no hearts, courage, or brains. It is sad, really. As a rep here, I can only wish this was a nightmare. Sadly, it is reality.

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  59. not enough Holes, too many Kostas. the chickens have come home to roost.

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  60. That's what she said...

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  61. Who is the red-headed giant that is rm in Atlanta? I hear he had an affair with his former associate? What kind of girl would get with that freak?

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  62. Completely echo much of what has been said above.

    Click’x is currently been pushed in ASPAC because Pangea was such a screw up (no pun intended). To make up for the fact that the heads pop off they have made it dirt cheap and tell docs to expect a 10% failure rate – that’s why it is so cheap…

    Synthes is too Swiss – it takes too long to make a decision and when it does it then makes a totally over engineered product that is useless – Pangea…The only awesome product that actually let us take on Medtronic was SynFix and that was designed by an Aussie!

    In this part of the world they used to put a 25% premium on prices because the products were hand rolled on the thigh of a Swiss virgin, carved from cheese in the grotto in the middle of the chocolate mountain, Yodleheyhehooo! That’s not going to fly any more and as soon as they start looking at the “Made in China” route then what can they say?

    As to trustworthy there are rumours heading around the ASPAC region that some trauma surgeons have been getting more than just a rep in theatre and yes there was Norian…

    For the last 5 years or so Synthes has been on the up in ASPAC but now they too are recruiting kids out of high school, giving them a car and phone and hey presto we have a very highly paid box stacker. They couldn’t even say let alone spell Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Osteosynthesefragen.

    This is also seen in management with your Emch’s and other MBA businessesy types put into senior management at the expense of people with product experience and relationships. I actually feel sorry for some of the RM’s – some of them were good reps who were I think prodded into RM jobs. Agreed that the Dave Hole’s are the exception to the rule.

    I see the writing on the wall for Synthes Spine with companies like NuVasive and K2M on the block.

    As for SUSA lets face it how hard can it be to make a small frag set and sell it for a 5th of the price – lets get down to Home Depot and start our own company!

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  63. Has anyone told Dave Hole how many recommendations he has had on here? He should get a raise at least or maybe go for Emch's job!

    Or maybe he is the spine blogger....

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  64. whats interesting is how everyone ...good or bad... is passionate about Synthes.... They are not so big a player in my area, but they are still respected., vs a Globus. if they went to a full distribution model they would do better.
    no one respects Globus at all, surgeon or rep... they seem to think they are a sleazy crew

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  65. This is my first time to read this... most of it is nonsense... Birchler is the best VP of Sales Synthes has ever had... You idiots that are drawing a paycheck from Synthes and making disparaging comments should seek employment elsewhere, I'm betting your paycheck is small too. Nicholls was a talent but couldn't manage folks... Emch and others should have been let go after the Sales meeting for their behavior, which in my opinion, was unbecoming for anyone especially the President...

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  66. Home Depot? Good luck with that...idiot.

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  67. It's always entertaining reading the confused state of most Synthes reps.
    Nicholl's was a talent, but couldn't managed folks? Emch and others should have been let go after the sales meeting for behavior unbecoming a leader? What's the matter, Emch following in the footsteps of his mentor, Wyss? You can only grab so much ass, until it grabs you. Synthes once was a great company, unfortunately when you make it an old boys club you don't recruit talent, you recruit lackeys. By the way, don't be so full of yourselves, you're highly paid and only one step away from being a Home Depot salesman.

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  68. "Musculoskeletal Man said...

    It's always entertaining reading the confused state of most Synthes reps.
    Nicholl's was a talent, but couldn't managed folks? Emch and others should have been let go after the sales meeting for behavior unbecoming a leader? What's the matter, Emch following in the footsteps of his mentor, Wyss? You can only grab so much ass, until it grabs you. Synthes once was a great company, unfortunately when you make it an old boys club you don't recruit talent, you recruit lackeys. By the way, don't be so full of yourselves, you're highly paid and only one step away from being a Home Depot salesman."

    Did you forget to change your profile to "anonymous" before you posted that? Don't mind if I re-post it, then. I'd hate for everyone else to miss out on your drunken rant, as I'm sure you'll feel compelled to delete it once you sober up and realize you just exposed yourself to be the same belligerent idiot who badmouths Synthes on cafepharma...

    Nice one, MM!

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  69. Kurt Birchler as a great leader? Was this a serious statement? Name something about this mary that can be defined as "great"? He can't even hide his own sexual orientation. this man is great at nothing, except for maybe plugging holes. And I am not talking about David.

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  70. You are a class act, spine flogger.

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  71. Sales guys don't need to be led... The ability to earn a good living should be all the motivation needed.

    If most of these guys found themselves at Home Depot they'd be wishing they were at Lowe's... grass is always greener mentality.

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  72. Anonymous 5:27 on June 20

    Genius why would I need to rant about Synthes on CafePharma when I have my own blog. You must work for Synthes. I wouldn"t waste that much time on Synthes, I" m an equal opportunity employer unlike the Swiss. Don"t be so thin-skinned, I could dish it out and take it.

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  73. MM, you must have gotten your ass handed to you by Synthes at some point. Pathetic.

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  74. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  75. Sure, MM aka Anonymous...whatever you say. No offense, guy, but you have zero credibility. You are the Perez Hilton of Spine.

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  76. As a previous RM for Synthes who has joined NuVasive, I can personally attest to several points made in all of the above. First and foremost, Synthes is a great company that is clearly going through a tough period - they have managed to mask product issues (i.e. Pangea) with quality representation, training and compensation plans. That said, there are two issues remaining, and they are big ones. Leadership. People don't leave companies, they leave leaders. I think that is the single biggest problem Synthes has. I look back at my time there with tremendous fondness for many reasons if not most of all of the people I worked with, consultants and regional managers. Barclay Davis is a man of character and integrity - he stood out in West Chester. Dave Hole, indeed, is a jewel. As is Wendell Brown, Paul Wiecorek, Mike Sell, Laurel Hinrichs, Guy Cassone, Mike Bradshaw, Matt Shapcott, the list goes on and on.

    The second is speed to market - making 80% of their own products has created a tremendous bottleneck in manufacturing. A simple outsourcing strategy will help eliminate much of the manufacturing/development time lag. Matrix will be a quality product, and will put Synthes back into the pedicle screw market in a big way...it is just taking way too long. ZeroP VA, ZeroP Allograft, the next gen Synfix, Synapse etc. will all be quality product launches that we'll all see in the not-too distant future.

    It will be interesting to see what happens in the next five/ten years. I'd be willing to bet that one of the first big companies to be acquired will be Synthes, by a large Swiss Pharma Co. If they do not, and have a stand-alone strategy through the transition of HJW, might Synthes be back in the cat-bird seat as they come out of this period? What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and the fact they indeed make most of their products allows them to control quality/margins to a much higher degree. Titanium shortage - > lower prices (capitation), ability to control output (back-orders from outsourced vendors who also need to keep volumes up to keep prices competitive). As we spiral the drain into a normalized market, prices go down, consolidation takes place and who knows who'll be on top at the end....

    In the meantime I'm drinking up the purple mojo at NUVA.

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  77. hey Mitch, hope your doing well, and i think the blogger might be michael will. obviously bitter toward synthes.

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  78. Why does anyone care who it is? Don't you find the blog interesting? The comments? Do you care who each anonymous commentor is?

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  79. Nieradka isn"t even in the industry LOL

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  80. You are all infidels!

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  81. "Gobble, Gobble" is truly one of the more accurate statements made on this page. Synthes, while an old boys club, does hire a few woman. And boy can they pick them. These women play the field like a gold glove shortstop. Whether it is Cummings being flown in for a doctor "meeting" or some sort aging gobbling beauty queen has been from Wyoming who sleeps with docs and still cant meet quota

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  82. Leadership is definitely an issue with Synthes. Both in West Chester and on the field. There are dumb RMs and dumb GMs. I wonder if the new guy can clean up shop. He's dealing with a lot of excess baggage. I'd be interested to see how the new Prez runs this place

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  83. Who is the new Prez?

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  84. Hi June 23, 2010 11:45 AM,

    I think you may be correct. He actually is a very smart guy and does know the industry. It is just the way he goes about giving his opinion that gets him in a lot of trouble.

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  85. If it is him, at least he"s man enough to give his opinion. Too many Obama"s in this world, thin skinned and nothing more than an empty suit.

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  86. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  87. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  88. Been a former Traing and Sales Manager at Synthes it is sad that a company that one had talent now is full of shortsighted useless Fat cats. They are so full of themselves that believe can sit and watch competition to fall simple because they are so " good".

    It is a shame than many of our best salesmen join other companies and many of our projects were rapidly and efficiently implemented by others while the CEOS or Synthes CZars were having a Vodka in Davos or Oberdorff laughing on Stryker new products.

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  89. Apparently Synthes is making this blog sound stale. After poking fun at the company I have quickly realized that Synthes is not the unmotivated "fat cat" company you are all making it out to be. I think losing consistent business with 7 loyal surgeons to Matrix can attest to that. Also, Comparing Synthes to a company like NuVasive is apples to oranges when you consider that NuVasive still has yet to turn a profit after paying off on consulting agreements. Which benefits are they reaping? Synthes is currently battling it out with J&J for second in overall market share. Unmotivated!?! Maby rather than reading this blog you should spend more time looking at fact based information. Skirt chasers, management problems, whatever! It seems that Synthes is doing something right and Im upset that slandering and badmouthing is taking priority over any real information that can help my business. I guess I can thank this blog for dumbing up the medical device field with a bunch of misinformation!!!

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