From Thuringia to the world, and the world comes to Königsee
What do doctors and partners from Cyprus, Sicily, Malta, Indonesia, Lithuania, Spain and Mexico have in common? For a few days, the answer is: Thuringia. At Königsee Implantate’s 29th international hands-on workshop, they worked and discussed together, sharing their experiences. A long-standing partner summed up the idea behind it all during the workshop: “Make the world smaller with Königsee.”
For more than 30 years, Königsee Implantate has been developing and manufacturing surgical implants and instruments in the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district. Some of the workshop’s guests have been working with the company for more than two decades, whilst others were attending for the first time this year.
When contacts become connections
The idea for the international workshop came from Bettina Mühlmann, Team Manager at the Export Office, 17 years ago. Since then, she has continued to develop and organise the event together with the Königsee team. “Of course, we want to showcase what we develop and manufacture at Königsee. But the people behind it are just as important to us,” says Mühlmann. “When doctors and partners with very different backgrounds stand together at the operating table, discuss issues and seek solutions, the conversations that arise are quite different from those at a traditional product presentation. That is exactly what we wanted to achieve with this workshop.”
The event brings together a variety of medical experiences, healthcare systems and challenges. It is not only the participants who benefit from this. Königsee also gains first-hand insight into how things are done in other markets and what requirements exist there.
One participant, who has been attending regularly for six years, describes the atmosphere as follows:
“Every year there’s something new, and yet it now almost feels like a little family. We meet up again, share experiences and discuss things together. I really enjoy this special atmosphere and am grateful to be part of this workshop.”
International Medical Technology – Made in Thuringia
In Aschau and Königsee, guests were given an insight into production and development and met the staff behind the products.
Managing Director Frank Orschler, Global Sales Manager Nedal Haddad and Tobias Keim, Head of Research & Development, used the workshop as an opportunity for direct discussion with the guests. Under the motto ‘Your Market. Your Experience.’, participants shared insights into their markets, experiences and requirements.
And because getting to know one another involves more than just technical discussions, the day concluded with a Thuringian Oktoberfest, complete with bratwurst and Watzdorfer beer, of course. The following day, the group travelled to Jena. Together with experienced speakers from Cologne, Sicily and Cyprus, complex cases and various operational approaches were discussed and explored in greater depth during practical hands-on sessions in the anatomy department at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena.
A piece of the world right in the heart of Thuringia
The workshop also embodies what Königsee Implantate stands for: deeply rooted in the region whilst feeling at home internationally.
Anyone who works here or begins their training here isn’t simply working for a company in the region. They can contribute to medical technology that will later be used in hospitals all over the world, meet people from a wide variety of countries and discover that internationalism doesn’t just begin in a big city. It can also begin in Aschau and Königsee.
