Expert voice: meeting with Bruno Vinhais, Cellier Orthopédie.
Bruno has been working at Cellier Orthopédie since 1999 and is now in charge of logistics. He discovered our concept whenOrthoway, the group to which Cellier Orthopédie belongs, wanted to offer its own collection to its patients. According to him, it is important to change mentalities by offering more information and awareness on the possibilities of customization to patients.
U-Exist : Hello Bruno, can you introduce yourself ?
Bruno Vinhais : I have been working at Cellier Orthopédie ( Orthoway group) since 1999. I was trained as an ortho-prosthetist, and then I became a quality manager, and now I am a logistics manager. I pass on the purchasing instructions given by the group to the other logisticians.
"A new concept that was missing in the orthopedic landscape
EU: How and when did you discover the U-Exist?
BV: We approached U-Exist as part of a project driven by Orthoway. They wanted to expand their range of personalized products with their own collection. Since personalization is U-Exist's specialty, we thought of them directly.
I already knew about U-Exist through my professional contacts and through the orthopedic trade shows. Everyone in the industry had already heard about the concept. It was still something innovative, which made a lot of noise. A new concept that was missing in the orthopedic landscape.
EU: What did you want to see in this private collection?
BV: Wemainly wanted to offer a wide range of children's designs: pirates, balloons, hearts, princesses, superheroes... the request came from the Orthoway group and I was part of the working group. We were invited by the U-Exist team to come to their premises and they presented us the different designs they had imagined on transfer paper. We made a first pre-selection by love and experience while following the advice of U-Exist on the trends, then we asked the applicators to choose the patterns.
"We understand that people are bored and we want to change things.
EU: Why was this important to you?
BV: As attitudes change, everything changes, so we would like to have a private collection every year, if not every season. At the time, the tendency was to buy large rolls of 200 to 300 meters of textile. We understood that people get bored and we want to make things evolve. Today, we have 85 paper references of which at least ⅓ come from U-Exist.
EU: What has been the feedback from your patients following this collection?
BV: We really liked it at the time, that's why we want to continue with U-Exist to always have something new to offer. We will try to have some with each new season and offer what we have left to schools for example.
"The problem in France is that we love to hide.
EU: What are your patients' typical requests?
BV: Patients were telling us that they were seeing the same thing, the same patterns. They pushed us to diversify and we are doing it today with U-Exist.
If we have the possibility to please, if it's a little bit original and if it pleases everybody, I'm 100% for it and I would like it to evolve in that direction. But the problem in France is that we love to hide. The Anglo-Saxons or Americans are much more open on this subject in my opinion.
For example, at Cellier Orthopedics we offer hydro-dipping (which allows us to paint a prosthesis in one piece with a certain pattern) but we only do this application once or twice a month. I find that most people in France are reluctant to personalize their prosthesis, the concept that Simon proposes.
EU: You don't see any change in attitudes?
BV: Not really, most people are pretty standard. The concept of personalization remains marginal. The vision of disability in France is still shameful, whereas it could be a strength. It's slowly becoming part of our culture, but we're still old-fashioned. In fact, it goes with everything: tattoos, coloring... you don't have to show your handicap and even less that you are original. It's a shame.
"If we don't showcase the products, then obviously the patients won't know about it."
EU: how to try to change things?
BV: We need to change mentalities and for that we need to hold on. At our level, we need to do a maximum of information and awareness. We need to present things, offer things, inform about the possibilities of personalization and have the right materials to do it. If we don't present the products, then obviously the patients won't know about it. All this implies the integration of processes and changes in work habits, it is possible but it cannot be done overnight.
I also believe that we should be inspired by the models of our neighbors. I think of the British singer Victoria Modesta who wears a very stylish bionic prosthesis with speakers, LEDs... here in France, we will never see that. Yet I would like people to be inspired by it.
In the discourse of the orthoprosthetists it is also the way of approaching the subject. Acceptance of the disability includes personalization of the disability. However, there will always be those around you who influence the patient... you have to keep in mind to do things for yourself and not care about how others look at you.