Infynova Files IPO Prospectus: Revolutionizing Orthopedic Supply Chain with AI and IoT Solutions
The sudden outbreak of the novel coronavirus at the end of 2019 brought society to a near standstill. The butterfly effect triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic rippled across nearly every industry, disrupting their development trajectories. From another perspective, however, it also accelerated the advancement of digital and intelligent solutions, such as remote work, online education, and fresh food e-commerce.
Amid the pandemic, remote promotion solutions for orthopedics have also emerged. To address the challenge faced by orthopedic companies in conducting offline collaborative promotions during the pandemic, Infynova, in collaboration with Run Accelerator’s Big Health Industry Accelerator and Labpano, launched a panoramic remote promotion solution for orthopedics.
The orthopedic panoramic remote promotion solution released through this strategic partnership provides a 360-degree real-time interactive solution for orthopedic device companies that are unable to engage in face-to-face offline collaboration and communication due to the severe pandemic. The jointly launched orthopedic panoramic remote promotion solution enables comprehensive, face-to-face VR panoramic live training sessions for audiences of over 100 participants. It is suitable for orthopedic knowledge acquisition, surgical demonstrations, and product promotion, helping companies in the orthopedic supply chain resume online operations and conduct business, thereby delivering more comprehensive and realistic immersive training to the orthopedic industry.
Among them, Labpano focuses on the R&D of panoramic imaging technology and hardware. During the pandemic, it collaborated with China Central Television (CCTV) to launch a VR live stream of Huoshenshan Hospital. Meanwhile, Wujing Innovation specializes in providing intelligent supply chain solutions for orthopedics.
Currently, Wujing Innovation offers three major solutions: an intelligent orthopedic warehouse capable of 24-hour unattended operation; an industry big data decoding engine; and an AI recognition engine that enables intelligent identification of high-value orthopedic consumables.
Wujing Innovation leverages technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) to implement unique item-level coding for high-value orthopedic consumables. This transforms the traditionally complex, inefficient, and labor-intensive orthopedic supply chain into an efficient, intelligent distribution network, enabling full-process data traceability and automated inventory management. By doing so, it helps the orthopedic supply chain achieve scalability amid shrinking distribution channels and emerging consolidation opportunities.
Supply Chain Management of High-Value Orthopedic ConsumablesThe supply chain management of high-value orthopedic consumables is a highly complex field. First, it involves bidirectional logistics. Typically, for an orthopedic surgery, due to the high value, diverse specifications, and significant variability in surgical procedures associated with these consumables, hospitals do not purchase large quantities in bulk for warehouse storage. Instead, they place surgical demand orders with suppliers only after preliminary surgical needs are identified by clinical departments. Furthermore, after the surgery is completed, some high-value consumables must undergo a return process.
It is common practice within the industry for companies to operate multiple brands simultaneously and for medical institutions to engage with multiple service providers. This fragmentation prevents medical device manufacturers and importers across the supply chain from making precise decisions regarding R&D, production, and marketing; it leads to inefficient distribution channels and heightened circulation risks; and it creates management challenges for hospitals, exposing them to significant latent compliance risks. Furthermore, these isolated processes hinder regulatory authorities’ ability to enforce oversight, rendering product traceability unachievable.
In addition to the characteristic of two-way logistics, the orthopedic supply chain also faces situations where hospitals lack inventory and urgently require consumables during emergency surgeries.
Li Heshan, CEO of Wujing Innovation, told VCBeat that for a single orthopedic surgery, approximately 200 high-value consumables, ranging from instruments to disposable supplies, are delivered to the operating room. If only 10 of these items are used, the remaining ones must be returned to the warehouse and restocked. Currently, this process relies on manual labor coupled with basic information systems, resulting in significant inefficiency.
Secondly, in traditional orthopedic supply chains, there is a heavy reliance on warehouse managers. These managers must be thoroughly familiar with all orthopedic SKUs and possess the ability to prepare surgical instrument trays. The variety of high-value consumables in orthopedics is extensive; including those used in dentistry and ophthalmology, orthopedic products account for approximately 90% of all high-value medical consumables. This complexity results in a significantly prolonged training period for warehouse managers.
Heavy reliance on warehouse management personnel directly restricts the large-scale expansion of supply chain enterprises. In particular, the implementation of policies such as the Two-Invoice System, zero markup on medical consumables, and DRG-based payment will squeeze the profits of intermediaries in the distribution channel. While the industry is poised for large-scale consolidation, heavy dependence on manual labor drives up the costs of scaling operations.
To address this pain point, Wujing Innovation has leveraged AI-based machine recognition and IoT tools to assist warehouse managers in identifying high-value orthopedic consumables and instruments. Wujing Innovation has also developed surgical kit preparation tools to help new warehouse staff perform professional instrument tray assembly.
Furthermore, the orthopedic supply chain involves a wide variety of logistics packaging formats, including sterile packaging, standard packaging, screw boxes, instrument trays, and power tools, each requiring distinct inventory management logic. Wujing Innovation has specifically developed orthopedics-dedicated equipment and systems, such as visualized screw boxes, instrument management, surgical case preparation, instrument sets, consumable kits, and unique item coding (one-item-one-code) management. These solutions help enterprises rapidly establish comprehensive orthopedic management models, reduce inventory levels, and significantly lower the barriers to operating orthopedic businesses.
Li Heshan stated, “Generally, manual inventory management requires 30 to 40 minutes to pick and dispense supplies for a single surgery to ensure accuracy. In contrast, the Orthopedic Smart Warehouse can complete the stocking and dispensing process for one surgery in as little as three minutes. Previously, if high-value consumables were needed at 3 a.m., warehouse staff had to be woken up to handle the stocking. However, we have now leveraged AI and IoT technologies to enable sales representatives to independently dispense supplies using surgical kit configuration tools.”
Founded in 2017, Wujing Innovation initially aimed to intelligentize the entire supply chain and become the “brain” driving industry-wide intelligence. In 2019, the company incubated the Wujing Health project. The decision to enter the healthcare sector was driven by Wujing Innovation’s recognition that, under policy incentives, the traditional pharmaceutical supply chain in China entered a breakthrough phase in 2019.
“In 2019, medical insurance cost containment measures significantly impacted the entire supply chain. Particularly in the high-value consumables industry, all supply chains are required to reduce costs and improve efficiency. As profits from intermediate distribution channels are squeezed, their demands for high-value consumables management continue to rise. Meanwhile, China’s orthopedics market itself holds substantial growth potential; within the high-value consumables sector, orthopedics is the second-largest subsegment after cardiology, with a market size reaching RMB 180 billion in 2018 and a compound annual growth rate exceeding 20%.”
Among companies specializing in the intelligent supply chain of high-value orthopedic consumables, Li Heshan believes that Wujing Innovation’s advantage lies in the advanced nature of its solutions.
“Among competitors of the same type, some are traditional software companies undergoing transformation; they possess a certain degree of internet DNA and have launched relatively lightweight solutions. In contrast, Wujing Innovation’s Orthopedic Smart Warehouse leverages integrated hardware-software equipment, AI, IoT, and other technologies. Our service model is deliberately asset-heavy, as we aim to establish long-term partnerships with clients, helping them achieve business scalability and breakthrough growth.”
Another major advantage is its early-mover advantage. In the early stages of development, Wujing Innovation had already achieved coverage of leading enterprises in the high-value consumables supply chain, establishing collaborations with multiple companies such as China Resources Pharmaceutical Commercial and Mindray Orthopedics.
Li Heshan, founder of Wujing Innovation, graduated from Johns Hopkins University in the United States and previously worked at Amazon, where he was responsible for the intelligent automated pricing algorithm engine for global first-party e-commerce. The core team at Wujing Innovation possesses extensive expertise in high-value medical consumables management. Key members include executives with experience managing large pharmaceutical commercial enterprises, professionals who have overseen supply chain operations across China’s healthcare market, and senior leaders brought on board with expertise in consumables supply management at major Grade A tertiary hospitals. Additionally, Wujing Innovation has established collaborative advisory relationships with a number of orthopedics department directors from leading Grade A tertiary hospitals.
Going forward, Wujing Innovation will focus on providing in-depth services to its existing customers and gradually expand into the clinical management of orthopedic consumables. By integrating hospital-based consumable management with smart logistics requirements, the company will implement its smart orthopedic warehouse solutions within hospitals.