Anodyne eliminates identity crisis

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. - Say goodbye to Anodyne Medical Devices and its subsidiaries: AMF Support Surfaces, Anatomic Concepts, Primatech Medical and SenTech Medical Systems.

As part of a major rebranding initiative over the next six to nine months, those companies will be grouped under a single new name: Tridien Medical.

"It started to become more confusing as to who we were," said CEO Abbey Daniels. "Were we SenTech? Were we AMF? Were we Anodyne? Sometimes we didn't even know what to call ourselves. In real life, we are all one company. We've been working very hard over the past couple of years to integrate the services, the functions, operate as one management team, as one system. Yet we didn't have one single brand identity."

Compass Diversified Holdings formed Anodyne about five years ago to acquire manufacturers of medical support surfaces. In early 2006, the company purchased its first companies: AMF and SenTech.

Compass set out to consolidate this fragmented market and to reap the resulting economies of scale, allowing the company to produce high-quality products at a competitive price. Tridien operates facilities in Florida and California, and will "probably" add a Midwest location next year to speed up delivery times, Daniels said.

Currently, the home medical equipment market represents 15% of the company's business, but it is a very important and growing piece, Daniels said.

"There is a tremendous amount of uncertainty in the market, but the thing that we do know is that need for these products continues to grow," she said. "As a designer and manufacturer, you have to insure that not only are you innovative in the products that you bring out, but also that you have the highest level of quality and do everything you can to control your costs."