Mobility Designed to reach ‘new level’ as part of Drive  

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. – Mobility Designed’s portfolio of products will be in good hands at Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare, thanks to the company’s expertise in global manufacturing and supply chain, says Max Younger. 

DDH announced in June that it had acquired MD’s portfolio of products, including its flagship product, the M+D Comfort Crutch, and named Younger, its co-founder and chief of innovation, as its senior director of industrial design and innovation. 

“Innovation is not easy,” he said. “Drive brings many things to the table. A well-established global supply chain is a huge strength, along with global sales and marketing teams, and their key relationships in the industry all elevate the potential of this portfolio of products.” 

The Comfort Crutch, which was named a finalist in Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards, and which was the subject of a viral video that reached more than 50 million viewers, shifts the user’s weight to the elbows instead of the armpits or wrists, providing more comfort. Younger started working on the crutch after watching his father, who has had multiple knee surgeries and who became an amputee in 2008, struggle with traditional crutches, and launched MD in 2014. 

DDH also brings to the table a larger global distribution network, Younger says, including DME providers. MD has been selling the Comfort Crutch through business-to-business and direct-to-consumer channels. 

“DME providers want to differentiate themselves from e-commerce,” he said. “A new product that’s new and exciting (like ours) allows them to reach a customer base that is unique and that can’t easily go get it yet.” 

As part of DDH, Younger will initially focus on transitioning manufacturing for MD’s products, but “pretty quickly,” he says, he will move on to DDH’s product development needs, with an eye toward “creating this opportunity for a new experience, new ergonomics and new functions” to not only crutches but also canes, walkers and other equipment. 

“We have a number of products in the portfolio that we are going to help launch that will take DME to a new level,” he said. “Drive has built themselves to really capitalize on and make innovation a priority. And not just for innovation’s sake, but to solve a problem for a user in way that that customers can afford.”