SRI Surgical outlines turnaround

Investors wondering how SRI Surgical Express Inc. might start generating profits again received answers directly from the company today.

A filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission detailed the plan laid out in 2007, when SRI Surgical hired an external consulting firm to evaluate its business model.
The key items: reduce customer attrition; expand sales; partner with a supplier; and incorporate environmental friendliness into the brand.

To address the first two issues, SRI Surgical split its sales force into two specific teams — one for existing customers, and another, a much larger unit, for generating new clients. A partnership with Cardinal Health, a custom kit marketing company, also helped to expand sales, as well as addressing the third key on the company's list.

Finally, the filing explained how recognition from the Environmental Protection Agency validated their re-branding efforts.

“Today, SRI Surgical is a dramatically different company,” the filing read, “with improved operational efficiency, a distribution footprint capable of expanding our service area, a more robust sales force through our relationship with Cardinal Health, and a recognized value proposition for hospitals and surgery centers.”

SRI Surgical Express Inc. supplies reusable surgical equipment, and at the end of 2009 claimed a customer base of approximately 425 hospitals and surgery centers. The company posted a net loss of $3.78 million last year.