From its humble beginnings 21 years ago as a one-man show serving one client from a 100-square-foot bedroom, Technical Prospects, Appleton, Wis., has grown into one of the world’s largest suppliers of OEM replacement parts for Siemens medical imaging equipment. Although the company is now run from a 72,000-square-foot, world-class distribution center serving clients all over the globe, it remains first and foremost, a family-run business.
Technical Prospects’ President and CEO, Jeremy Probst, sits down with 24×7 Magazine to share his insights on the evolution of the business and the market it serves.
24×7 Magazine: Your father, Bob Probst, founded Technical Prospects in 1997. What factors led to the establishment of Technical Prospects?
Jeremy Probst: When my father founded Technical Prospects in 1997, he originally set out to service equipment for healthcare facilities, but quickly realized there was a great need for medical imaging part suppliers. To fill this industry gap, he began offering a dual service with Siemens-specialized equipment engineering and quality replacement part sales. Having worked on Siemens CT equipment for more than 18 years, my dad was uniquely qualified and had a great passion for providing superior products and unmatched service.
24×7: When did you come on board, and what special skills did you bring to Technical Prospects?
Probst: For his first five years in business, my father focused solely on Siemens CT parts, then realized that to move into additional modalities, he was going to need help. I had just graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Platteville with a degree in industrial technology management and a minor in electrical control systems and ?uid power, which brought a new perspective and understanding of the industry and technology to the table. I joined him, and, with the help of my brothers, we grew the company to not only meet customer demand as we offered expanded parts, but also set Technical Prospects apart from the competition.
24×7: How has Technical Prospects evolved in the past two-plus decades? How do you expect it to evolve even more in the future?
Probst: Our desire to set Technical Prospects apart with exceptional service and parts is what’s driven us to grow a one-man operation in a 10-foot by 10-foot bedroom into a 72,000-square-foot facility with more than 35 staff members and a world-class training center. We continue to grow our expertise and offerings which, in addition to only quality Siemens parts, includes training and support. To continue this forward momentum, we invested in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software to help streamline processes and better manage all aspects of the company, further helping us set Technical Prospects up for infinite growth in the years to come.
However, no matter how far we advance, Technical Prospects will always be built on my dad’s standard of quality and service above all else. So, while the company is now under my leadership and continuing to advance in terms of services we provide, little has, or will, change in the way we do business and support our customers.
24×7: In your expert opinion, what are some of the biggest issues currently affecting the HTM field? How does Technical Prospects work to resolve these challenges?
Probst: As baby boomers continue to move towards retirement, we will begin to see an even greater talent shortage in healthcare technology management. This means that those engineers who are on staff need to be a “jack-of-all-trades” and able to service a wide range of equipment. In addition, imaging equipment continues to grow more complex and difficult to service.
Given the current situation, proper training for medical imaging engineers will become even more important. Whether older engineers are looking to expand their knowledge base, or young engineers want to gain hands-on experience in a clinical setting, Technical Prospects offers online and in-person Siemens training courses that help prepare engineers for excellence in the field.
24×7: What else do you want 24×7 Magazine readers to know about Technical Prospects?
Probst: Technical Prospects is truly grounded in our mission to be a partner to each customer whether it be through our parts, training, or support, which is something we’ve believed in since day one. With every business decision made, we ask ourselves what benefit or impact there is on our customers.
With that, we all understand that the person who matters most is the patient, and that is who we are focused on supporting and helping. There’s an urgency in everything that we do because if the equipment is not working properly, it directly impacts patients. The Technical Prospects team works to provide healthcare facilities with the same level of quality support that we would want to receive if our own family members were receiving care there.