BELLA HEALTHCARE
INDIA
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BELLA HEALTHCARE
• Bella Healthcare India was originally established in Bangalore as a
low-cost manufacturing facility for a U.S.-based cardiology equipment
developer
• Under country manager Joseph Cherian it evolved considerably,
developing its own research and development capabilities.
• The case is regarding the proposal to develop a new portable
electrocardiograph machine ,specifically for the Indian market.
• Their goal has always focused on serving emerging markets and
making healthcare more accessible and affordable
INDUSTRY BACKGROUND
• EKG is the measurement and interpretation of the electrical activity of
the heart as it contracts.
• Commonly used to diagnose problems such as heart attacks,
arrhythmia, lack of blood flow, birth defects and enlargement.
• EKG device is connected to three primary components.
• Standard EKG and Resting EKG
• Other EKG devices like the Holter monitor, Stress test equipment
measured heart activity under different circumstances.
BELLA HEALTHCARE IN INDIA
• Founded in 1969 by brothers Todd and Greg Bella
• With the advent of transistors they developed a new
version of Holter monitors and expanded their product line
• Innovation had to be patient-centric and commercially-
oriented
• Establishment of first manufacturing facility outside the
United States i.e. in Bangalore
• Early 1990s –
1) Joseph Cherian was the manufacturing Director then and
assembly and testing started in the manufacturing facility .
2)Introduction of Buhd 612 (its newest 12 channel EKG)
3)Production of Raddit 601 (its single channel EKG)shifted
4) By 1996 manufacture of Ambulatory blood pressure
monitors, Holter monitors, 3 channel EKGs started.
• Late 1990s –
1) Seeing the extent of manufacturing expertise and experience of Indian
engineers, the facility in St. Louis moved partial production of popular 6
channel EKG and Kawu 606
2) Cherian proposed a formal cost engineering program
• Early 2000s –
1) Strengthen Bella India’s fledgling R & D team that would develop Fit
X17, the next generation of Bella’s ambulatory blood pressure monitor
2) After interviewing the top engineers of Bella India , an initial core R&D
team was formed of 7 members. This team was sent to US for further
training
3) Culture of taking full ownership of work
PROJECT BATON
• Bella healthcare initiated project Baton to design a new
lower cost stress test system to be used with treadmills
• As these systems have tremendous value in clinical
diagnosis and global demand
• Challenging a new market segment and affordable offering
REQUIRED RESPONSIBILITIES
• St louis team – product and functional specifications, user
interface
• Bella India team – driving down costs by taking in charge of
electronics, sourcing and ensuring the design enabled low cost
manufacturing .
▪ Effective coordination
▪ International team
▪ Faster production in order to compete with the market
▪ Great performance and cooperation
PROBLEM STATEMENT
• Departure of St louis based project manger and no
replacement available
• Technical and sourcing issues
• Delays in offshoring made microcontroller cost high
• Cross border coordination proved as difficulty
• Difference in working and communication styles
• Supervisor was too inflexible and impersonal , did not show
any trust and became upset at minor issues
• Difference in interests of the two teams: Bella –cared most about designing for
manufacturing whereas St louis –focused on developing the best , most commercially
viable functionality.
• Prototyping by Bella India did not meet the standards of St louis
• No timely delivery of goods by Bella India
• Managing the suppliers
• Result
• In 2007 they were to improve the performance but
nothing happened till 2009 . Hence, the project was
closed
PROJECT TKO
• TKO- ‘Technical Knockout’ , a single channel EKG to be
launched in Indian Market by Bella Healthcare India.
• Should Bella Healthcare take up the Project TKO?
• The reasons are being segregated into external and internal
factors.
• External Factors: India being the populated country with
insufficient healthcare services.
• Increase in the incidence of Coronary Artery Disease(CAD)-
according to epidemiological and angiographic studies.
• Internal Factors: Successful delivery of the Fit X17 by the
Bella India team under the leadership of Joseph Cherian
and Jeremy Manning.
• After the failure of the Project Baton, the team didn’t lack
motivation. They realized the strengths and mistakes.
• Experiences of Baton had already covered the learning
curve of the team and that id one of key speeding factor to
TKO.
• A St. Louis- based team will have limited knowledge of local
market needs. But at the same time, they needed the right
designs for relevant context.
• Based on market realities, the Bella India team defined four
design principles for TKO:
1) Portability
2) Ease of use
3) Connectivity
4) Affordability
THANK YOU
