Fuji adds Siemens and Picker as OEMs for Fuji-labeled CR

Moves complement GE deal inked in August

Fuji Medical Systems USA is rapidly expanding the number of medicalimaging vendors selling its computed radiography systems underthe Fuji label. The Stamford, CT, company has added Siemens MedicalSystems and Picker International to its list of OEM partners sellingFuji-branded readers.

Under Fuji's earlier OEM agreements, companies such as Siemens,Philips, Toshiba and Du Pont sell Fuji CR readers under theirown brand names. Siemens, for example, marketed Fuji CR readersunder the trade name Digiscan.

The situation began to change in August, when Fuji inked adeal with GE Medical Systems for supply of Fuji-branded readers(SCAN 8/30/95). The latest agreements with Siemens and Pickerexpand Fuji's reach, according to John Strauss, national marketingmanager for CR products.

The Siemens and Picker deals are structured similarly to theGE relationship, with Siemens and Picker selling Fuji-labeledreaders. They are slightly different in that Siemens and Pickerwill rely on Fuji for long-term service and applications support,while GE may develop its own service and support capabilities,Strauss said. The new deal with Siemens supersedes the arrangementin the U.S. under which Digiscan was marketed.

Fuji has already installed two FCR 9000 readers covered bythe Siemens deal, one at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL,and one at Sarasota (FL) Memorial Hospital. Fuji will send anotherFCR 9000 as well as an AC-3 reader to the Mayo Clinic. The Pickerdeal is in an earlier stage and no systems have yet been shipped,Strauss said.

The new relationships will likely help Fuji fend off increasingcompetition from other CR companies, such as Agfa, which securedthe right to market its CR readers in the U.S. through a licensingdeal with Fuji earlier this year (SCAN 7/19/95). In any event,the increasing interest of major OEMs in selling Fuji-labeledequipment validates the company's leadership position in the modality,according to Strauss.

"Companies these days recognize that you have to partnerand when people look for strength in CR, there is one companythey think of," Strauss said. "We are the experts inthis field."