Head of the SBU Ophthalmic Devices (OPT)

Dirk Brunner

Head of the SBU Microsurgery (MCS)

“The impact for customers was in many ways disruptive…”

… stated Euan Thomson, Head of the Strategic Business Unit (SBU) Ophthalmic Devices (OPT) in an interview with Dirk Brunner, Head of the SBU Microsurgery (MCS). They both talked about the impacts of the pandemic on customers and how ZEISS supported.

The interview was conducted on September 28th, 2020.

What challenges were our customers experiencing when the pandemic got started in the various regions of the world?

Dirk Brunner: Our customers experienced a very broad spectrum of challenges as the pandemic developed. For example, private practices were effected most dramatically - they often had to close during the lockdown, or their patients were simply afraid to come in. As we all know, hospitals were of course greatly impacted too, albeit sometimes in very unexpected ways. Some of them were declared COVID-only hospitals and therefore could not treat anything else. Others were then told to now perform the treatments that were no longer possible in the COVID hospitals, even if they had not performed these tretments previously. This essentially requited them to procure our equipment instantly, such as the one in Italy, which suddenly called us during the worst time there. They said that they immediately had to buy a KINEVO system because they had to do all neurosurgical procedures in their city now. So, the situation was very heterogenous.

Euan Thomson: For the OPT customers being in private practices it was in many cases very disruptive. They had to furlough their teams and staff. It was a scary time for them, with lots of uncertainty. And then there was the growing concern about how to safely reopen the practices. Across the whole team we spent thousands of hours talking to customers in different ways and trying in the background to understand their perceptions of the new normal. We engaged quite strongly to figure out how we could contribute to getting them up and running faster and better for the time after the strict lockdown periods.

How did we as a company support health care professional in this time?

Euan Thomson: We started the ”Fast Start“ initiative and launched the ”MED Support Now“ website, along with other support resources. This included procedures like disinfection and hygiene instructions for ophthalmic devices and COVID communication support packages to help clinicians inform patients. We also started producing breath shields for our devices to protect doctors and patients during eye exams, for example; we dontated hundreds of thousands of them globally. We took a holistic approach to help our customers in this unprecedented situation while some of our competitors were looking for a business opportunity. That created on our part close bonds with customers and differentiated us.

Dirk Brunner: There are also a wide variety of things we initiated and implemented in MCS. Most important was to signal customers that we are there for them when they need us. We did a good job at being allowed to access hospitals for service situations or application support, where needed. In addition to the personal support, we developed various neuro video learning elements - very quickly. Customers were very satisfied how creative and how flexible we reacted.

What will change - for customers, for medical technology, for us?

Dirk Brunner: I am convinced that the pandemic is accelerating digitalization and connectivity approaches. The acceptance of these is now happening really quickly in our customer’s mind and is helping us to evolve together. It will be a tremendous win-win and all our initiatives are significantly gaining speed. If there are any positive aspects to be found in this crisis, this maybe one of them. Everything in our pre- and post-sales relationship is changing - how we speak to our customers, how we support them digitally, how they work with their data and so forth. Those things are going to continue significantly evolve and the pandemic has undoubtedly accelerated the trend.

Euan Thomson: I agree, people realize the benefits of using connected solutions and digital tools. This is one fortunate outcome from very unfortunate circumstances. One of our big learnings from this is the value of approaching our customers with the solution mindset. Our new technologies are part of a workflow solution. We are focused on not just the features of the technology, but how they help drive efficiency in the practice and how they can enable successful outcomes for the patient.

How fast will we see a recovery?

Euan Thomson: I cannot imagine that we will ever goback to the way things where before the pandemic. We must absorb our learnings – collectively both inside the company and on the customer side. And we must learn how to build on them. In many ways they drive a more efficient world.

Dirk Brunner: I think we all wish we could predict how quickly the recovery will happen, unfortunately I do not have a crystal ball with me. What I believe for certain is that we will recover, albeit at different speeds and rates depending on how we are locally effected and managing the pandemic. Our customers and our company are very resilient and flexible and our society as a whole is also very creative and resourcefull. So, the key thing is to stay safe, support each other and globally pull together. If we do that I am confident we will see a recovery begin and then accelerate. It will take a while though, so we need to be patient and support each other.

How have you both personally experienced the time since the beginning of the pandemic?

Dirk Brunner: For me the last 8 months have truly been the very definition of VUCA. Everyday something new happens and our approach has to change and evolve. You find yourself in a constant change mode. It is incredibly strenuous to constantly be in this VUCA environment and making sure the teams are safe, that we are still getting the work done and helping our customers also stabilizing their efforts and initiatives. Recently, I feel that we are starting to better cope with the situation - we are dealing with it better.

Euan Thomson: I was still new in my role as head of digital at ZEISS and was travelling when the pandemic started. I was visiting customers in China just as people started talking about a high-risk virus. Seeing that this unfolded into a truly global experience was unbelievable for me. There are new ways of operating, but they are very intense – being in video conferences hour for hour during the day can be tiring. I am just so amazed and impressed how resilient we as a company have been –to maintain the same energy levels and to maintain the same productivity. We are still shipping everything that our customers need. We have adapted to virtual digital conferences and teaching modules. The responsiveness of this company has been incredible.

Thank you both very much for your time and the insights.

{{ country.fda_text }}