REHACARE: Networking and collaboration with heart and soul

A visit to REHACARE is nothing like other traditional business settings. You quickly realize that this venue makes room for heartfelt and inspirational stories. One reason for this is the end users, who rely on many products as indispensable resources to master their daily lives. Another reason is business owners who forge valuable contacts with other industry participants at the trade fair. Sometimes their goal is to join forces to maybe address the problem of just one person. That’s certainly not typical behavior in the business world.

One such success story is the collaboration between Dergin Tokmak and Ossenberg GmbH. Over ten years ago, the company met the "dancer on crutches", aka STIX, at REHACARE and has been supporting him ever since with reinforced custom crutches as dancing applies entirely different loads on the crutches than normal use. In the video, the collaborators present a brief profile of their story.

Many companies are generally interested in hearing the views, wants, and needs of their customers and in finding solutions together!

One big advantage for REHACARE exhibitors is the chance to find business partners on-site for collaborative endeavors. The exhibitors often know each other well and can assess areas where they overlap and have synergies. Great new ideas are often born thanks to spontaneous conversations at the trade fair. The collaboration subsequently provides a deeper analysis and understanding of the idea. We asked Luigi Savignano from Veigel GmbH + Co. KG why collaboration is important and can make sense. The company has partnered up with FeLiTEC (website in german only) on the subject of "Better mobility for wheelchair users". When asked what prompted the collaboration, Mr. Savignano said: "FeLiTEC and Veigel have always had a very good business relationship, albeit this was a pure customer supplier relationship prior to the collaboration. Felix Liehr has helped shape the German industry. He learned our business from the pioneers in Switzerland and France and even back then saw and changed things tremendously. Thanks to this time and his work as an independent retrofitter, Felix Liehr has a very close relationship with end users. As manufacturers and developers, we don’t always have this type of intimate connection. That is why we benefit from his considerable experience and knowledge, while end users gain from the collaboration between our companies. At Veigel, we have expertise in serial development, production, and sales. Felix Liehr knows all about the daily obstacles of end users down to the smallest detail. This creates a win-win situation for everyone!"

Savignano emphasizes the importance of a shared vision of the future for this collaboration: "Felix Liehr and the Swyter family - the family who proudly owns the Veigel company - have a shared vision. Together they want to facilitate mobility for everyone! Not only does this pertain to personal mobility, but also to the mobility of the future. Thanks to the shared vision and mutual appreciation of our respective competencies, the collaboration takes place on an equal footing. We have even more ideas that can turn our vision into reality in the future."

We will all be able to discover the products and models this partnership creates for wheelchair users at REHACARE 2023.

Even though REHACARE only takes place a few days a year in Düsseldorf, some visitors tell us that they have made plans to meet other people who they have met online at this venue. Some have connected on community platforms such as Movao, which was created by orthopedic technology supplier Ottobock SE & Co. KGaA specifically for people with amputations to share their similar interests and challenges. We are obviously very happy to hear that! Getting in touch with like-minded people whose backgrounds are similar is important for many people with disabilities.

Role models with a disability also play an important part in this setting. Unfortunately, they are not always easy to find for people with disabilities. Ottobock had a couple of ideas pertaining to this issue: If you wear a prosthesis, you can apply to become a role model. The company’s other idea was to approach well-known influencers with prosthetic arms as part of a collaboration. Obviously, not everyone wears a prosthesis made by Ottobock – but the stories of the participating influencers are inspirational and encouraging! Unfortunately, the promotion is only available for german-speaking countries for the time being.

Besides products that are being showcased in the exhibition halls, the expert forums host a variety of exciting lectures that highlight issues that affect the community. It’s another great way to form thrilling partnerships and find opportunities to network with the experts. The presenters and lecturers expressly encourage visitors to share their ideas, knowledge, and insights!

Finally, we also recommend visiting the SportsCenter in Hall 7a. The area is dedicated to sports, games, and leisure but also features inspiring stories from companies and users. For example, German Paralympic sprint runner David Behre visited REHACARE to introduce his collaboration with APT Service GmbH, which produces his sprint prostheses.

Unfortunately, we cannot introduce all the networks and collaborations that have developed over the years thanks to REHACARE in this setting. However, one thing we know is that a visit to REHACARE is always rewarding because you can build a network of new contacts and maintain relationships with existing customers – from both a professional and personal perspective.

If you would like to discover how wheelchair users benefit from various collaborations, we recommend this article: Assistive technology industry: working together for more mobility.