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The turn-around is officially complete for Zimmer.
Since the 1996 restructuring of the Bristol-Meyers-Squibb subsidiary, president Ray Elliot and his management team have been working to making the company the predominant force in the medical device sector of their industry.
The 1999 results indicate they are on their way, Elliot said.
"We've had some very nice results in terms of new products introduced and our increase in market share," Elliot said.
Elliot credits a strong distribution effort and the introduction of several new products for a double digit increase in replacement knees and hips.
BMS reports Zimmer had an 8 percent increase in sales for the third quarter, with replacement knee sales up 13 percent to $88 million and replacement hips up 14 percent to $67 million.
"Some of it (the increase in sales) is us. Some of it is the market," Elliot said. "Our U.S. distribution business is really strong, and so is the market in Japan."
Elliot said a new stem product introduced in Japan has been the biggest reason for the increase in sales there, and the new fracture products introduced in the United States have performed exceptionally well.
"We've tried to grow faster than the market, which is usually growing in the 4 to 5 percent range. As long as we're growing faster than the market, we're happy, because that means we're increasing market share," Elliot said.
Because of the increase in business, Elliot said, the company may be looking to increase its work force to meet the higher demand.
"We're just starting to work on the 2000 budgets and it looks like we'll be increasing our employment levels," he said.
While adding more employees is one benefit the increase in sales has had for the company, it also has raised the spirits of the current employees, who helped the company weather the storm during the past three years, Elliot said.
"I think it's really had a positive effect on the morale of the employees here," he said. "You see a lot more smiles on the faces around here lately."
