World’s Leading Supplier of Prostheses Celebrates 50 Years in the United States
World’s Leading Supplier of Prostheses Celebrates
50 Years in the United States
Since incorporation on February 21, 1958, Otto Bock HealthCare has grown from a handful of employees to more than 600 across the U.S.
Otto Bock HealthCare, the world’s leading supplier of prosthetic components, was founded in Germany in 1919 and expanded to the United States 50 years ago this year. By coming to a new continent, Otto Bock’s son-in-law, Max Näder, was able to carry on the founder’s vision of promoting independence and mobility for everyone.
That vision has driven the company to literally change the industry and the lives of millions of people. In its first decade in the U.S., Otto Bock HealthCare introduced a new method for aligning and fitting prostheses, which became the standard worldwide. The company also developed the first fully microprocessor-controlled knee, the C-Leg®, which remains the most widely used computer-controlled knee in the world.
Although Otto Bock HealthCare was originally located in downtown Minneapolis, they outgrew their facilities and moved to Golden Valley in 1969, then moved again, to Plymouth, where they now have four locations. With nearly 250 Minnesota-based employees and 600 employees nationwide, Otto Bock HealthCare has helped improve the lives of thousands of individuals with its wide range of prosthetic, orthotic, mobility and post-surgical products and services. As President and CEO, Bert Harman, points out, “We have remained true to the vision Otto Bock expressed in 1919 and continue to measure our success by how well we serve the people who ultimately use our products.”
With this vision in mind, Otto Bock HealthCare is also looking to the future, developing new technologies such as Functional ElectroStimulation (FES), which can enable those who have suffered from strokes, for example, to walk on their own again. It has also worked with Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, MN, to create the revolutionary SensorWalk orthotic device, and with the Vienna (Austria) General Hospital to create the world’s first neurally-controlled (thought-controlled) arm prosthesis.
Inspiring examples of lives affected by Otto Bock HealthCare include an amputee pilot who, while wearing his C-Leg®, became the first above-knee amputee to fly for the military. But equally important to Otto Bock are its customers with less high profile stories. “We know the products we touch let people do things like dance at their daughter’s wedding or go fishing with their grandson,” says Sharon Baldauf, Manager of Customer Satisfaction. “Otto Bock’s clear focus on our customers’ ambitions drives every one of our employees.”
Aaron Holm of Shakopee, MN, especially appreciates Otto Bock’s contributions to the industry and the special focus on its customers. He lost both his legs above the knee after being struck by a vehicle on the shoulder of I-394 near downtown Minneapolis, and he is thankful for his C-Legs because they allow him to keep up with his young, active family and pursue his love of golf.
Driven by high-tech products like the C-Leg®, Otto Bock’s U.S. operations have generated double digit growth in nearly every year of the new millennium—growth which included a series of U.S. acquisitions, including Springlite carbon fiber prosthetic feet, St. Cloud-based TEC Interface Systems, and OrthoRehab, which provides post-surgical therapies.
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Otto Bock HealthCare GmbH is based in Duderstadt, Germany. Otto Bock has more than 3,800 employees worldwide and produces over 25,000 types of prosthetic and orthotic components, mobility and rehabilitation products. Besides a fabrication center in Plymouth, the company has a manufacturing and research & Development facility in Salt Lake City, UT, and a call and billing center in Tempe, AZ. Otto Bock is the U.S. leader in delivering continuous passive motion (CPM) services and related therapies. (www.ottobockus.com)
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