Ouou Medical is a national independent orthodontic brand founded by orthodontic doctors, after several years of rapid development, it has grown into a high-tech R&D enterprise integrating research and development, production, sales and service of oral medical devices. Dr. Geely, the founder of Ouou Medical, led the team to research and development for 6 years, through the joint efforts of a number of precision manufacturers to break through the technical problems of orthodontic products, developed a breakthrough and revolutionary bracket product in the field of orthodontics, and continued to take the road of Intelligent Manufacturing in China.
Talking about his patented technology transformation process and the development history of Ouou Medical, Dr. Geely has mixed feelings and has a lot to say about psychology. A number of well-known domestic media have interviewed Dr. Geely, and the following is the transcript of the interview:
Reporter: What made you sell the lucrative dental clinic and focus on patent transformation?
Dr. Geely: Before doing the patent transformation of the spherical bracket, I had been an orthodontist for 10 years, and I had seen many corrective patients, and the first two weeks of wearing the traditional bracket were more painful, full of mouth ulcers. This is an inherent defect of traditional brackets, and doctors have no way to solve it. For this reason, I wonder if there is a mouth-free bracket that solves the problems of both doctors and patients. All the answers point to the spherical design of the brackets. So, I began to write patents in 2011, and in 2012, I sold the clinic project to concentrate on patent transformation, hoping to develop a comfortable spherical bracket that does not grind, so that the patient's orthodontic process is less painful.
Reporter: In the process of developing spherical brackets, what difficulties did you encounter? How did you solve it?
Dr. Geely: The process of patent transformation is long and has encountered many difficulties. First, a large number of experiments and patent applications in the early stage require huge amounts of money. In 2013, I applied for patents one after another, but at that time, in addition to the accumulation of the clinic, I had no other source of income, and at the most difficult time, I even had only 3,000 yuan left on my body, and I almost nipped the project in the bud because there was no financial support. The second is the difficulty of manufacturing technology, which is also the most difficult to overcome. In the past few years, I have visited 1,073 precision manufacturing factories at home and abroad, and visited more than 100 sites, including top suppliers from Foxconn, Huawei, and Apple. Every time I set out, I was hopeful, but I came back with a lot of loss. Most of the precision manufacturers who have visited the field do 3C products, and the design of more precise products is very difficult to technology. Fortunately, with the help of a friend, I cooperated with a leading listed precision manufacturing company on precision assembly. At the same time, it also cooperated with a core exquisite manufacturing supplier of the top aerospace equipment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to solve the problem of the development of the most core elastic components. It can be said that in the process of patent transformation, I really transformed from an orthodontist to a manufacturing engineer.
Reporter: The technical difficulty and the research and development process are very difficult, have you ever thought about selling the patent to realize the cash?
Dr. Geely: In 2014, I already owned more than 20 patented technologies, which were valued by the Government of Guangdong Province and Guangzhou Municipality, and there were also companies that wanted to acquire my patents. After talking to a large international trough manufacturer, they really wanted to buy my patent and the bid was high. But it feels like they'll take the patent back and study it slowly, not necessarily to develop it, or even drown in other projects. Later, I approached some big companies and found that I didn't agree with their goals, they were making products, and I was trying to provide patients with a more comfortable correction program. I didn't want to stop there, but hoped to land the patent myself, and refused the acquisition of a large company. By 2015, the patent transformation appeared in the rudimentary form, I set up Ouou Medical Company, from the problem of whether it is feasible to the problem of whether it is good or not, and led the team to work together to do this thing well.
Reporter: After experiencing many difficulties, when you finally developed the spherical self-locking bracket, how did you feel?
Dr. Geely: The OBrace spherical self-locking bracket developed by our Ouou medical team made its global debut on May 6, 2018 in Washington, D.C., USA, for the first time, to show the world a ball tray comfort correction solution with leading correction technology and concept. From the design point of view, the spherical surface is complete and smooth, will not cause wear to the soft tissues of the mouth, it is very easy to clean, and the shedding rate is small, and it is not easy to fall off the groove. In this way, the comfort correction of the ball tray solves the two major problems that plague doctors and patients with traditional metal brackets - uncomfortable wearing and high rate of bracket shedding, achieving a more ideal correction effect. I hope that this comfortable correction program will benefit orthodontic patients and simplify the doctor's operation. As an orthodontist, I am happy to see that orthodontic products can better solve clinical problems and meet the needs of patients.
Reporter: Ball tray comfort correction is a new correction program, what is your strategy for marketing it?
Dr. Geely: In the months after the release in Washington, D.C., OBrace spherical self-locking brackets have achieved mass production, and the market has shown an unexpected eye-catching, and the sales volume has surpassed the sales of products entering the market in the first year of domestic and foreign giants. After-sales and reaction chains also keep up with each other, and in the process of seeking speed and stability, I first chose stability. From the laboratory to the clinic, to mass production, to global recognition, every step needs to be steady and steady. At present, the ball tray comfort correction program has been available for 3 years, although it is favored by domestic and foreign markets and consumers, but our team is not complacent, still in the continuous study of technology, adhere to independent innovation, the pursuit of better correction programs to solve clinical problems. My marketing strategy can't get around this, which is to impress the market with innovation and quality. Just like Huawei, as long as its quality and performance are good enough, there will be more and more consumers using Huawei mobile phones. What we have to do in Europe is to "Huawei" in the field of orthodontics.
Reporter: What is your view on the development of orthodontic bracket products in the next decade?
Dr. Geely: Ten years from now, there will be a leap forward in orthodontic technology, it will not be the conventional technology it is now, and what we have to do is to make this change relevant to us. From the perspective of precision, comfort and treatment effect and saving doctors' time, ball tray comfort correction will still occupy a large market share in the next decade, but it is also inevitable to be challenged by competitors in the same industry, especially invisible orthodontic products have a great impact on ball trays in terms of aesthetics. I believe that the ball tray comfort correction is not only a correction program, it is also the carrier and expression of the Ou ou spirit, the product is destined to be constantly iterated, but the spirit of Ou Ou to provide comfort correction program will never be subverted.