Marketing / Product Discussion Transcript (Tidied)

00:42:05 – Rocket / File Upload Issues

Steve N:
Bring up Rocket. I’ve uploaded some files that we should look at in Rocket, under the marketing group.

Derek:
Okay, looking now.

Speaker 4:
I can’t see in the dark.

Derek:
That’s why you have lit computer screens. You’ve got one, I don’t.
Where’s the dimensions upload button? Not sure why it’s not working.

Speaker 4:
It’s working now. Did you fix it? Interesting.
I said there was an issue, then I tested it again and now it’s working.

Derek:
Might have been because the file extension was JPG versus jpg.

Speaker 4:
Was it a JPEG? I sometimes have problems with that.

Derek:
Possibly. It was already in there, so it looked okay.

Bluepoint / Product End-of-Life Documents

Steve N:
Go to the top one. This is from Bluepoint / Honeywell.
It’s regarding product discontinuations, but they’re not really explaining why — just stating they’re discontinued.

Speaker 4:
Is this different from the one I sent last year?

Steve N:
Yes, that was for an individual product. This one is for the whole series.
They’re discontinuing all the MySign products because they share the same mailbox/system.

Speaker 4:
We don’t really deal with the MySigns, do we?

Steve N:
No, it’s mainly for information/reference purposes.

Speaker 4:
Have you put it into the system in case someone requests confirmation later, like last time with Mike?

Steve N:
I’m going to, yes.

Speaker 4:
Not sure where it should go. It’s basically an “End of Life” notice.

Steve N:
Could put it under general notes for each manufacturer.

Derek:
Or under documents — just choose the document type you want.

Speaker 4:
Only if it shows against events and stock.

Derek:
It will if you link it behind the scenes.

Speaker 4:
Oh right, didn’t realise that.

Derek:
If you link the document properly, it will appear where needed.

Speaker 3:
Could label it as miscellaneous documents. If you need another heading added, just let me know.

Derek:
I can add headings easily, but eventually I want to reduce the number of headings because there are too many already.

Historic Report Numbering / Sorting

Steve N:
Some of the report numbering still jumps around.

Derek:
That page is historically very old. It goes back to pre-Opera days and evolved over time.
Newer turnover pages are structured with the most recent at the top, but that old page hasn’t been reorganised.

Steve N:
It’s probably global numbering. Some reports jump around between years.

Derek:
Ah, I see what you mean now. I was looking at the wrong issue before.

Ultramax / SmartCheck Market Research

Steve N:
This is what we discussed last week regarding Ultramax and LifeCheck.
I’ve summarised the countries and key suppliers.

LifeCheck don’t want us targeting:

France
Israel
USA

So as far as I’m concerned, we can target those regions with Ultramax instead.

Derek:
So this is basically general market research?

Steve N:
Yes.

Derek:
We should probably store this in Nextcloud:

Shared “Viamed Market Research” folder
Then subfolders by product/topic
That way it doesn’t get lost and we can reuse it later.

Steve N:
Agreed.

Steve N:
There’s clearly a market because SmartCheck is already selling into France and Israel.

The AI research gives:

General market summaries
Potential distributors
Potential markets in Europe and the Middle East

If expanded further it provides company names as well.

Derek:
One thing missing is the exact search/query used.
It would help to record whether the search was specifically for Ultramax, respiratory care, ICU suppliers, etc.

Steve N:
I’ve mainly used “Intensive Care Providers” as the template.

Next Steps / Sales Strategy

Derek:
How do we move this forward?

Steve N:
We need:

A draft email
Contact details for target companies

Speaker 4:
You could probably just feed the list back into AI and ask for contacts.

Derek:
That’s exactly what I was thinking.

Ultramax Distribution Discussions

Steve N:
The supplier now wants us to commit to buying units.

Originally:

160 units minimum

Now reduced to:

40 units

There’s also a rebate if we sell over 100 units annually.

Restrictions:

Cannot approach their main UK customer unless we commit to 100 units/year.

But we can sell internationally except France and Israel.

Speaker 4:
Why not do market testing first before committing to stock?

Steve N:
That’s the dilemma.

Speaker 4:
I’d rather test demand first than sit on 40 units that don’t move.

Steve N:
The risk is overseas distributors bypassing us and going direct to the supplier.

Memtech / FDA / South America

Steve N:
Lisa Ryan, who used to work for Maxtec, has set herself up in South America and may be interested in Viamed or Memtech sensors.

Problem:

Viamed sensors are not FDA listed.

However:

Memtech agreed to add Viamed sensors to their FDA listing, saving us costs.

That potentially opens South America for us.

They’re starting with sample orders first.

Derek:
That’s useful.

Steve N:
Long-term possibility is:

South America distribution
Potential US market later
But US introduces insurance/liability complications

For now:

Focus on South America.
Oxygen Monitor / Simulator Discussion

Steve N:
Memtech also have:

A good SpO2 simulator
Environmental simulation equipment
Potential oxygen monitor opportunities

But unless products meet medical standards, industrial markets may make more sense.

Catalogue / Product List Issues

Speaker 4:
I’m still trying to finish the oxygen monitoring catalogue.

There are inconsistencies between:

Maxtec lists
Master Viamed lists
Product groups

Examples:

MAX-13J missing from master list
Some products exist on one list but not another

Need:

Product synchronisation
Images
Clarification on which products stay/remove
Customer Delivery Date Overrides

Speaker 4:
The new override feature works, but it removes the automatically generated reason text.

Derek:
That’s because once overridden, the calculated reason no longer applies.

Nextcloud / Shared Research Storage

Derek:
I want everyone using one shared Nextcloud area.

Benefits:

Centralised research
AI indexing later
Orac could automatically search/summarise all research later

Speaker 4:
I probably still have loads of duplicate files.

Derek:
Not too worried about space — more concerned about sync times and maintainability.

Supplier / Payment Monitoring

Steve N:
I need earlier warnings when customers stop paying.

Not necessarily to chase invoices sooner, but:

To avoid over-ordering stock
To spot financial trouble early

Some customers:

Give forecasts months ahead
Then suddenly reduce/cancel quantities
Or stop paying while still forecasting future orders

Derek:
That sounds like a rolling reporting/monitoring task.

Could create:

Automated monthly reports
Early warning indicators
Supplier/customer risk summaries
Feed it into ISO/supplier review processes

Steve N:
Exactly.

Sensor Demand Volatility

Steve N:
One customer jumped from:

400–600 sensors/month
to:
1000/month

But they don’t issue proper formal orders consistently.

So it becomes difficult balancing:

Supplier commitments
Safety stock
Forecasting risk
AI / Automated Summaries

Derek:
What I really want is:

Automated summaries of the last few months
Auto-generated prompts/history
AI building customer and supplier timelines automatically

So when opening an account:

You instantly see the context/history.
Closing Discussion

Derek:
We’re at the stage where:

Research is building up
Opportunities exist
We just need structured next steps

Steve N:
Exactly. There’s definitely opportunity there — we just need to move it forward carefully in manageable stages.