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MANUFACTURING » Howard Wright Ltd
Business North / December 2013
State-of-the-art bed ready for market Sue Russell When New Plymouth-based medical bed manufacturing company Howard Wright Ltd began developing their latest state-of-the-art M9 Paediatric Bed, they started by observing how children, clinicians and parents interacted with the hospital ward environment. Design engineer Teresa Joe says it was a good place to start. Along with the team of research and development staff at the Bell Block headquarters, Joe has carried the project from its inception more than a year ago through all the design and development phases. “It is very satisfying to see it through to this point where the first order of 236 beds is about to roll out of production destined for the Womens’ and Children’s Hospital in South Australia,” she says. Howard Wright Ltd is New Zealand’s only company specialising in manufacturing medical beds and stretchers. The company is committed to producing the safest, most stylish and ergonomically savvy products, which must also comply with a raft of international health and safety standards. Joe says that governing the design of the M9 Paediatric Bed throughout was an aspiration to not only meet but to better all the standards set for each individual component of the bed. “This was no easy feat when there is no one standard for paediatric bed design existing.” The company employs just over 40 staff, split between the office and the factory. Joe says having all staff - from the design, research and development team right through to those on the factory floor building the beds working at the same site, means that everyone feels a connection to the products they produce.
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Howard Wright Ltd has spent over a year developing their latest state-of-the-art M9 Paediatric Bed.
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