Christoph Weiss, Managing Partner of the BEGO group, opened this year’s BISS with his welcoming speech in memory of his father, Joachim Weiss, who passed away last year. He was a highly esteemed senior partner of the traditional company. Afterwards, Jürgen Schultze, Head of International Sales at BEGO Bremer Goldschlägerei and BEGO Medical, welcomed the 90 trade partners from more than 30 countries and introduced them this year's motto. “Digitalization is constantly changing business models – if we do not change anything, nothing will change. We have to move to the next level,” said Schultze. The lecture which followed by Frank Schomburg, Senior Consultant and Co-Founder of nextpractice GmbH, linked directly to the words of the previous presenter. He illustrated how digitalization is changing society and the economy through increasing connectivity and how the increasing complexity can be managed successfully. He also initiated the interactive part of the event, “Creating Ideas – Forward-thinking Sales Strategies”. Afterwards, information about new products from BEGO and best practice stories of some trade partners were presented. Workshops on the Varseo S 3D printer with its wide range of materials and indications as well as the digital workflow in implantology followed. Further keynote speeches on the topics “Starting Up a Business Without Innovative Product?” by Sohrab Mohammad, founder and CEO of the Bremen-based startup Reishunger, and “Implications of Digitalization on Sales” by Wolfgang Bussmann, Senior Partner of Mercuri International Germany, concluded the first day. At a joint dinner, the participants took a little time-out together with the BEGO employees.
On the second day of the BISS, the program continued with focus topics by Niels Ophey, Head of Consulting Microsoft Solutions at Bechtle AG, and Hagen Falke, Lean Expert of the BEGO group. Dennis Wachtel, Head of 3D Printing at BEGO Bremer Goldschlägerei, explained the new and more stringent requirements of the Medical Device Regulation (MDR) and its impact on medical device manufacturers. The announcement of the winners of the highly coveted Wilhelm-Herbst-Awards for outstanding marketing and sales achievements for BEGO products was eagerly awaited in the afternoon. The BEGO trade partners ECHO Ltd. from Russia, Shanghai Foshion Medical Systems Co. Ltd. from China and PROFIDENT-SERVICE from Kazakhstan received the prestigious awards. The “Farewell Dinner” rounded out the second day of the dealer event.
On the following day, all interested participants gained insights into the traditional company in Bremen including a visit of the high-tech production center, the surface technology center and the BEGO TRAINING CENTER.