Sleep Review interviews Wally Carruthers, CEO and founder of Pro-Tech Services
Just as sleep diagnostic specialists use teamwork to properly diagnose and treat disorders, so do sleep diagnostic manufacturers employ professionals with distinct areas of expertise to work together to produce viable products. Sleep Review spoke with Wally Carruthers, CEO and founder of Pro-Tech Services Inc, Mukilteo, Wash, about what sets his company apart and how it integrates sales, marketing, engineering, and manufacturing to research and develop products.
Q. What makes Pro-Tech different from other manufacturers of sleep sensors?
A. Our people make the difference. We work hard to find the most qualified, experienced, and credible people for every position throughout our organization. We have certified biomedical engineers in research and development, as well as registered sleep technologists and respiratory therapists in sales and technical support. We work as a team and are “market driven.” To Pro-Tech, this means listening to our customers and finding the best way to meet their needs. Our organization has been ISO 9001 certified since 1998, and we continue to upgrade our processes and people to ensure that the highest quality product possible reaches our customers.
Q. How does research and development play into the Pro-Tech corporate strategy?
A. For Pro-Tech, research and development is a cross-functional process. Since we are vertically integrated, we are able to bring together sales, marketing, engineering, and manufacturing as a team to develop solutions for our customers. We invest the money, time, and effort in the unseen things that allow Pro-Tech sensors to provide consistently reliable signals. This enables sleep clinicians to be confident that they will get the information needed to diagnose and treat their patients.
Q. How does Pro-Tech respond to the needs of its customers?
A. We listen. We serve both sleep laboratory clinicians and polysomnograph (PSG) manufacturers. Therefore, our team must listen carefully and work closely with our customers to develop products that are easy to use, comfortable for the patient, reliable, and cost efficient. Our goal is that sleep laboratories using Pro-Tech sensors receive the best value from their purchase because their sensors provide them with the lowest cost per test. We are not selling a commodity; we are providing a solution.
Q. What can our readers expect from the Pro-Tech in 2003?
A. We will continue to find new ways to meet the needs of our customers with both products and services, as we have for more than 15 years. Since sleep medicine is very dynamic today, we will partner with sleep laboratories, manufacturers, and professional organizations to develop solutions that will enhance everyone’s ability to better diagnose and treat sleep-disordered breathing. This may include technologies that are not currently being used in our industry today.
