Competitive Intelligence for Tenders for LatAm Government Healthcare Contracts
CASE STUDY
Challenge
Our client, a leading player in global infusion pumps, vaporizers and dialysis equipment, sought competitive intelligence to help it win government contracts. Governments are by far the largest purchasers of medical devices and equipment in Latin America. More than 85% of these products are imported from outside the region, with the exception of limited production for the domestic market in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Costa Rica.
The domination of imports affords unique market and competitive insights from detailed data which until recently has been prohibitively arduous to collect, aggregate and update at a granular level. In the search for process efficiencies and economies of scale, public sector tenders have become less frequent, higher-volume contracts, presenting “feast or starvation” dilemmas for manufacturers of equipment and devices. One such contract could represent up to 50% of an equipment provider’s’ total sales in the country—a winning bid makes a multi-million dollar difference in annual revenues, while a losing bid results in immediate budget cuts and corporate restructuring.
Given these circumstances, competitive intelligence is crucial for companies, such as our client, a leading global player in infusion pumps, vaporizers and dialysis equipment.
Approach
With access to the Global Health Intelligence (GHI) database, the client was able to monitor competitive activity in the importation of specific medical devices and equipment into Latin America, specifically in the top healthcare markets: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru, among others. This meant accessing data not only on general product categories, but also on the names of the importers, types of products being imported, descriptions of use and the manufacturer supplying the equipment. This level of data allows companies to see how much stock a competitor has in-country, who has stockpiled product in the country and who can successfully deliver on tender requirements.
As a result, the client was able to identify the ability of key competitors to bid on certain government contracts and tailor its pricing accordingly to improve its chances of winning the bid.
Result
The client had the ability to make decisions based on hard data as opposed to rumors—which for them made the difference between winning or losing their biggest contracts of the year.
Client Benefit
Beyond obtaining competitive data to improve their tenders as far as healthcare equipment for Latin American government, the client was also able to price their margin correctly to maximize profitability. Moreover, the analysis can be done very quickly, with standardized parameters. As such, the client could have the analysis ready and in their inbox in a matter of hours—not months.
