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Ethicon, Covidien, or Applied?

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Anonymous said:
Wait a minute, made in the USA? Made in California? Are you kidding me? And they're selling at a lower price than JJ who's manufacturing in some 3 world country? How the hell is this possible?
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Simple. Applied is a private company with a vision. J&J is public company beholden to Wall Street.

For proof, don't call Applied, call J&J and get a copy of our investor report and look over a few years of results.

Here's what happened to the customer's dollar in J&J (MD&D 2010-2011)...

20-33 cents get targeted to profit (mainly to Wall Street and to keep those high executive compensation packages). No matter what happens, we are going to deliver more profit. Wall Street will get paid first.

Manufacturing, R&D, HR, IT, take about 45 cents. Many of these functions have hundreds of directors and VPs who are very busy preparing PowerPoint decks on how much money they can save in the future by outsourcing everyone but themselves.

You and I fight over the rest. Our jobs are 'optional' if we need to pay Wall Street, or provide bonuses for our pay-for-performance executives.


Now think about Applied. What if their 'private' investors only ask for 10 cents as a 'fair return'? Do you suppose they could use the 'extra' money to do some real R&D? Do you think they have hundreds of directors and VPs? I bet they have so much left over they can give the customer a good price and build things right, in the USA, with committed employees.
 




Anonymous said:
Good post with good info...also, keep in mind that many of our products are considered commodity items now and best price can win by way of the purchasing department. Applied will continue to gain ground because no one needs to spend more money on trocars if necessary.
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Speaking of a commodity... thats what we are right now. A flippin commodity. The cool-aid has dried up. We have to reapply for our own jobs? If you're not insulted-you should be.
 




What's up with all the liberal BS. J&J is a business. A business is supposed to be profitable. I have worked for other companies in the past, and believe me, J&J operates with more integrity than most. Oh and just because Applied is not public doesn't mean that it does not care about profits, or that they will accept a lower margin. It just means that their numbers are not subject to public scrutiny.
 




Anonymous said:
What's up with all the liberal BS. J&J is a business. A business is supposed to be profitable. I have worked for other companies in the past, and believe me, J&J operates with more integrity than most. Oh and just because Applied is not public doesn't mean that it does not care about profits, or that they will accept a lower margin. It just means that their numbers are not subject to public scrutiny.
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This is true. The objective of a business is to make $. Public or Private, it doesn't matter, as long as you're still making money. JJ makes $ with their business model, and so does Applied. But the old adage of off shoring to reduce your manufacturing costs is bullshit. You can make money and be profitable in the US and California despite the ridiculous taxes and regulations these governments are imposing on people.
 








Anonymous said:
This is true. The objective of a business is to make $. Public or Private, it doesn't matter, as long as you're still making money. JJ makes $ with their business model, and so does Applied. But the old adage of off shoring to reduce your manufacturing costs is bullshit. You can make money and be profitable in the US and California despite the ridiculous taxes and regulations these governments are imposing on people.
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you have no idea what you are talking about chief. there is a reason why everybody (MD&D and Pharma) manufactures in Puerto Rico. Its not because its a fun place to do a plant visit. Huge Tax benefits, with the protection of US law. We get the cake and can eat it too. It is possible to make a profit manufacturing here on the mainland, but you are not maximizing your returns.
 








I have worked for both Ethicon and Applied. There are MAJOR differences! Ethicon has its issues, but they have an excellent training program and treat their employees with more respect, offer more opportunities for advancement and have a better overall corporate culture and compensation plan.

Applied, on the other hand, has a terrible reputation, are the lowest paying medical device company in the market and have a less than stellar corporate culture. They do have decent products and a great company story, but don't believe what they say on their website. They have the highest turnover in the entire device industry. The main reasons for this is the way they view their sales reps and employees overall. They don't pay well so don't believe what they tell you about compensation during your interview. Very few reps make six figures. The average is about 75k. They don't fully reimburse you for expenses either. You have roommates at training ( not suites either). You sleep 3 feet away from a total stranger. They feed you dinner at 5:00 in the corporate cafeteria (crappy food) and if you want anything else to eat or drink in the evenings, it comes out of your own pocket. The management at Applied has a smug attitude that you are lucky to work for them, not that they are lucky to have you. They don't increase pay when they "promote" reps either.

I worked at Ethicon for almost 5 years, but only stayed at applied for just under a year because their corporate culture was miserable in my opinion. My advice is to choose any other medical device company over Applied. Just my personal opinion. I suggest you ask recruiters, hospital staff and Applied employees for their opinion in addition to what you read on this site, to get more perspectives. You will probably learn exactly why they have such a huge turnover. I was promised a lot during my interview, and none of these promises came to fruition.

Good luck in your search!
 








Fools everyone is going to Intuitive - all the bs about "its a tough culture" is such crap. Its all about who your manager is and if you actually work, just like EES, just like Covidien and Applied is for entry level med losers. period.

Intuitive is the way to go - compensation, pipeline, development. do your research though.
 




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