Still a Breath of Fresh Air

A NSW respiratory equipment company continues to lead the world,
writes Keeli Cambourne 

Australian manufacturing giant Resmed has helped thousands of people around the world breathe easy.

For the past 20 years, Resmed has exported its eletromechanical devices for treating breathing disorders, especially those that occur during sleep, and is now the leading provider of such devices internationally.

The company manufactures, markets and sells, through 18 wholly-owned subsidiaries and many distributers in 80 countries, equipment for the diagnosis and treatment of respiratory disorders.

Since it exported its first sleep apnoea device to the US in 1989, Resmed has ensured its success globally by continued research and development and providing customers with the most up-to-date information – on its own products and scientific research into the various conditions they treat.

NSW is where the company bases its major manufacturing facility as well most of the research laboratories, legal and other supporting functions.

From its NSW head quarters, Resmed manufactures 500,000 flow generators, 400,000 humidifiers and 4 million masks each year and an annual growth of about 16 per cent.

Exporters account for 99 per cent of its production, with the US, Germany and France representing 80 per cent of sales. And now the company is expanding into the Asia-Pacific.

“Resmed is no.1 in the world for the network we do and that success has been achieved because very early on in the business we concentrated on quality,” Reseed’s senior research scientist, Dr Charles Barnes, says.

“There have been competitors but most of them have not lasted as long as we have. “Part of our success is that we research into breathing disorders is still a relatively new topic.”

Barnes says the research has resulted in innovative product design, which is becoming more specialized. “For example, we now have specially designed masks for women, the first company in the world to do so,” he says.

Resmed now produces a range of 30 different designs for masks and regulators, each available in multiple sizes, to cover all needs due to individual face shapes and sizes and therapeutic needs.