Mettler-Toledo: Precision of Measurements

Scales and analytical instruments are the expertise of Mettler-Toledo, a global manufacturing company based in Greifensee, Switzerland. The products of the business are marketed under the name Mettler Toledo (without the dash).

The company specializes in scientific instruments that are used by professionals. Their products and services are most helpful in the chemical, food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. These items are used for scientific research, drug discovery and quality control. There are several business segments that the company operates across Europe and in North America. Through the scientific instruments manufactured by Mettler-Toledo, we are able to administer precisely measured medicines, weigh the exact volume of ingredients and purchase the right amount of food.

The manufacturing facilities of the company are located in the United States, in China and in Europe. Their products are marketed in over 36 countries through their global sales offices and service organizations. The business was created in 1989 after two companies: Metter (Switzerland) and Toledo Scale (USA) merged.

McKesson Corporation: The Preferred Partner of America’s Healthcare Systems

Among the first businesses in the United States to make use of the bar-code technology and RFID tagging system in distributing their goods is McKesson Corporation. The business thrives in the pharmaceutical industry and is listed as the 14th largest business in the country based on the annual revenue it generates. During their 2013 fiscal year, the company was able to generate more than $122.45 billion.

This American company is headquartered in New York City and is engaged in the distribution of pharmaceutical products at a retail sales level. They also provide medical supplies, care management tools and health information technology. Considered as one of the oldest continually operating ventures in the country, McKesson doesn’t just operate within the United States as they also have offices in Australia, Canada, Ireland, France, the Netherlands and in the United Kingdom.

In 1833, the company kicked off as a distributor of botanical drugs. The business started out as Olcott & McKesson after its founders Charles Olcott and John McKesson. Daniel Robbins joined the venture and after the death of Olcott, the company changed its corporate name to McKesson & Robbins in 1853. Through acquisitions and merger of businesses, the company eventually dropped the name of Robbins and made a fresh corporate image under the name McKesson Corporation.

The largest chunk of the sales of the enterprise is derived from its technology business arm. The McKesson Provider Technologies is the retail name of its software development division. 50% of the healthcare systems in the United States rely on the services provided by the business. They provide web-based cardiac imaging, information management solutions and other digital image technology and reporting useful in the healthcare system. Health Mart is the name of the chain of pharmacies that the company wholly operates. There are about 3,400 stores that are part of the Health Mart network.

Orbital Sciences Corporation: Big Leap for Small and Medium Spacecrafts and Rockets

Orbital Sciences Corporation is an American company that designs, manufactures and launches small and medium-class spacecrafts and rockets systems. Its products are used by commercial as well as civil governments and military forces. It is based in Dulles, Virginia. Its stocks are traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Among the leading products of Orbital are satellites and launch vehicles. Among these products are the geosynchronous-Earth orbit and low-Earth orbit, including planetary spacecrafts used for scientific and defense missions, remote sensing and communications. Orbital also produces both ground-launched and air-launched rockets that send satellites into orbit; and missile defense systems that intercept or target vehicles.

David Thompson, Bruce Ferguson and Scott Webster were students at Harvard Business School when they founded Orbital in 1982. Three years into its operations, Orbital procured its first major contract: the supply of four Transfer Orbital Stage vehicles for NASA which planted the seeds for the ORBCOMM constellation.

Tinder: Eliminating Social Barriers

Tinder is a dating app that envisions to eliminate the social barriers involved in making new friends or building up existing ones. Tinder believes that fun and familiar experiences shared advance interactions in real world.

Tinder connects people through swiping. Swiping right means the user likes a person. Swiping left means the user wants to pass on the person. Once someone likes back the user, a match is created. Matches allow chatting with each other. Photos may also be snapped to allow sharing a Moment with all matches at one time.

Using the GPS technology, Tinder finds the user’s location. Then the information contained in the user’s Facebook account is used to create a Tinder profile. To retain the privacy of the user, Tinder does not post anything about Tinder on the user’s Facebook account. Tinder profiles contain only the first name, age, and the user’s photos. Tinder may also display the pages the user has liked on Facebook. Tinder will locate potential matches through parameters like location or age. That’s when the swiping happens.

“Moments” is Tinder’s way of helping its users know each other better. With Moments, a user can send a photo to all his matches for swiping, just like the profiles. The user can chat with whoever likes his Moment. Photos expire after 24 hours, so a “liker” should be quick with swiping to the right.

Tinder is preferred because it is quick and easy. It works like a virtual bar, where liking a party goer happens within minutes. Getting matches may be a little shallow, but that is what happens when one gets attracted with another in a bar. Also, Tinder uses the “mutual friends” function of Facebook. The more common friends a user has with his matches, the better Tinder can work positively for that person. Swiping also limits the embarrassment factor because the user gets to connect someone who has liked him.

Touch Bionics: New Limbs, New Hope

Touch Bionics is a prosthetic technologies and support services company established to make sure that people with deficiencies in the upper limb can have access to the best prosthetic products. Touch Bionics produces such superior products as myoelectric prosthetic hand prosthetic fingers. Its passive silicone prostheses are realistic because they match the natural appearance of the person wearing them.

The earliest known record of Touch Bionics’ history began in 1963 when the Princess Margaret Rose Hospital in Edinburgh began a program to conduct a comprehensive research that would lead to the development of prosthetic solutions to the children patients suffering from Thalidomide. Research and development at Touch Bionics made sense when the Bioengineering Center of the hospital accommodated David Gow. After the success of the electronic arm in 1986, Touch Bionics produced the partial hand system in 1993, which earned international publicity for the first electronically powered shoulder.

A successful spin-out company was created from the National Health System through the Scottish Health Innovations Ltd. The spun-out company was led by Gow and was known as Touch EMAS (Edinburgh Modular Arm System). A rebranding was done in 2005 which led to a new name: Touch Bionics. The new name demonstrates the company’s dynamic innovations that focuses on the future of the prosthetics technology.