On 27 January 2017, Time Inc. announced the winners of the Second Annual TIME India Awards, at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Partnership Summit, in Andhra Pradesh, India.

The Indian Minister of Finance, Arun Jaitley, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Nirmala Sitharaman, and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, presented the awards. McKinsey & Company was the knowledge partner for the awards.The 2017 TIME India Awards recognized the country’s most exciting startups and small and medium-sized businesses.

Phoenix Medical Systems was the winner of the MSME Innovator for the Year award, which was received by the Managing Director, V. Sashi Kumar, and Executive Director, Smita Sashikumar. The winners of the awards were selected among 18 finalists, who were identified from a pool of approximately 15,000 manufacturing companies after an assessment of their qualitative and quantitative parameters. The finalists were announced at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, in January 2017.

A jury of key business magnates led by Vice Chairman of Time Inc., Norman Pearlstine, selected the winners of the Time India Awards in each category. The panel included General Electric Vice Chairman, John Rice; Infosys Founder, N.R. Narayana Murthy; ICICI Bank Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Chanda Kochhar; Time Inc. Executive Editor, International, Clay Chandler; and McKinsey & Company Chairman (Asia), Kevin Sneader.

2017 TIME India Award

A person with lower limb disability may have to use a wheel chair for the entire life. In a conventional wheelchair the user spends time in a seated position all the time. This constraint gives rise to many physical as well as mental health related issues such as sore body, building of pressure points leading to pressure sores, lowered blood circulation, and dependence on other people for basic needs. One solution to this problem is to provide mechanisms in the wheel-chair to assist the person to stand.

When Mr. Sashikumar, Managing Director at Phoenix, saw the prototype in the Rehabilitation Research and Device Development Lab (R2D2) at IIT-Madras, he decided to take up its development. Phoenix’s expertise in affordable manufacturing is crucial to making the price point of the SWC comparable to that of a good quality manual wheelchair.

This is possible also because Wellcome Trust’s grant, aimed at creating a social impact, covers the cost of all the initial equipment required to manufacture the wheelchair.

The prototype versions are currently been put through user trials and refined based on feedback.
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With Arise, Phoenix Medical Systems aims to transform the lives of people with disabilities and empower them to live life to the fullest.

'Arise' - the revolutionary standing wheelchair designed by the team at IIT-Madras and manufactured by Phoenix Medical Systems. Arise is a highly innovative and advanced mobility device that allows users to stand and move around independently, thus promoting their physical and mental well-being. 

Spinning the wheel of empowerment

The successful partners of SmartCane join hands yet again for the visually challenged.

Refreshable Braille Display (RBD) is a device that enables people with visually impairment to read digital text through tactile interface. Textual content in Portable Document Format (PDF), word documents etc. can be read using the display without having to emboss/print on braille paper.

Affordable display gives them access to diverse textual media and opens doors for development of various products that shall strongly empower them in fields of education, employment and quality-of-life. Braille tutor systems, deaf-blind communication devices and tactile math displays are some examples of products thus derived that entail mainstream integration in these fields. Free from the demerits of both auditory devices and paper-embossed braille and at a price point below one-seventh of that of commercially available displays, RBD has been developed deeper penetration in both developed and developing countries.

The proto versions are currently been put through user trials and refined based on feedback.
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Together yet again for the visually challenged

Phoenix Medical Systems, the leading medical equipment manufacturer in India, has recently announced its partnership with Embrace Innovations, a global social enterprise that focuses on creating innovative solutions for low-income families. The partnership aims to develop and manufacture a low-cost, portable warmer called Embrace that can help prevent hypothermia in newborns.

The Embrace warmer, which is a soft, portable device, is designed to provide warmth to newborns who are at risk of hypothermia. The device uses a phase change material that can be warmed in hot water or an electric warmer and can maintain a constant temperature for up to six hours. This makes it an ideal solution for hospitals and healthcare centers in low-resource settings where access to electricity is limited.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), hypothermia is a major cause of neonatal mortality in low-income countries, accounting for an estimated 18% of all neonatal deaths. The Embrace warmer has been designed to address this issue and can help save the lives of thousands of newborns in low-income countries.

Phoenix Medical Systems, which has been providing high-quality medical equipment for maternal and neonatal care for over three decades, will manufacture the Embrace warmer at its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Chennai, India. The partnership with Embrace Innovations is part of Phoenix Medical Systems' commitment to providing innovative and affordable solutions to improve maternal and neonatal healthcare.

"We are excited to partner with Embrace Innovations to develop and manufacture the Embrace warmer," said Mr. Sashikumar, Managing Director of Phoenix Medical Systems. "We believe that this innovative product has the potential to save the lives of thousands of newborns in low-income countries and improve maternal and neonatal healthcare. At Phoenix Medical Systems, we are committed to providing innovative and affordable solutions to improve healthcare in India and around the world."

The Embrace warmer has already been piloted in several hospitals in India and has received positive feedback from healthcare workers and mothers. The product is expected to be launched in several low-income countries in the coming months, with the aim of reducing neonatal mortality rates and improving maternal and neonatal healthcare.

Phoenix and Embrace innovations - The ideal ally

On the 22nd of January, 2016, the distinguished Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, presented the SmartCane, a technological innovation developed by Phoenix, to the visually impaired community at the Samajik Adhikarita Shivir held in Varanasi.

This initiative was part of a broader effort to promote inclusivity and support the differently abled. The SmartCane, an assistive device designed to enhance the mobility and independence of the visually impaired, was provided alongside several other aids, reflecting the government's commitment to the Sugamya Bharat Campaign, which aims to promote barrier-free accessibility for all.

Phoenix is proud to have contributed to this worthy initiative by providing world-class assistive technology to those in need.

Indian Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi hands Phoenix out SmartCanes

Indian Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi hands out SmartCanes

It took 10 years and an unlikely alliance between an innovator, NGO and the IIT network to make a useful device affordable for its target consumers.

Sathguru commutes by the Metro Rail daily from his home in North Delhi to the Noida-based National Institute of Open Schooling, where he’s a junior assistant…

No more blind spots for the visually impaired with the obstacle-sensing SmartCane manufactured by Phoenix

No more blind spots for the visually impaired with obstacle-sensing cane

Students and fellows at IIT-Delhi have developed a ‘smart’ cane that will help the blind navigate their way in spite of all obstacles that hamper their movement. It only costs Rs 3,000, which is about 25 times less than the market price of similar products that are currently available.

IIT-Delhi develops affordable 'smart' cane for blind

SmartCane manufactured by Phoenix in partnership with IIT Delhi , Saksham trust and wellcome trust receives national award from Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

SmartCane has received the National Award from the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment under the category of “Best Applied Research/Innovation/Product Development Aimed at Improving the Life of Persons with Disabilities"

The award was presented by the Finance Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley on 3rd December at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.

On this occasion, Saksham was also awarded as the best institution for providing inclusive education to the children and persons with disabilities.

SmartCane manufactured by Phoenix in partnership with IIT Delhi, Saksham trust and Wellcome trust receives national award from Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Another feather in the cap of the smartcane team

You know Phoenix to be the pioneering manufacturer of neonatal and maternal care equipment in India. But the company is also utilising its strengths to develop other different products and to make these widely available. The initial response to one of these products suggests that they will potentially improve the lives of millions of people in India and around the world. This product is SmartCane.

SmartCane was developed by Phoenix in collaboration with IIT Delhi and Saksham Trust. The product was developed to allow visually challenged people to move independently with safety so that they can travel to school, work or social gatherings. ‘Smart Cane’ uses a system of vibrations to convey information to the user about obstacles in his or her path. These vibrations also convey to the user how far the obstacle is, permitting him or her to take appropriate action and navigate gracefully. SmartCane allows a visually challenged person to walk with safety, confidence and dignity.

SmartCane has the potential to help a very large number of people. In India alone, the number of blind people is 15 million—and there are another 70 million individuals who are afflicted with significant visual impairment that cannot be corrected fully by any means. Phoenix has set itself the goal of empowering every visually challenged person in India with SmartCane. Hence, the company has embarked upon a mission to conduct awareness and training workshops in all the major cities of India. The first of these dissemination events was held at Chennai on 21 March 2015. The event brought together visually handicapped persons from colleges and welfare organisations, caregivers, students, medical professionals and community volunteers from Chennai and places nearby. Phoenix Medical Systems was supported by its partners, IIT Delhi and Saksham Trust, in conducting this event. The venue was IIT Madras, the alma mater of Mr. V. Sashi Kumar, Managing Director of Phoenix.

Speakers at the programme included Prof. Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director of IIT Madras, Dr. Rohan Paul, who conceived the idea of SmartCane and nurtured it into a product, and Dr. R. V. Ramani, founder and Managing Trustee , Sankara Eye Foundation . Dr. Rohan Paul and the SmartCane team at Phoenix were felicitated on the occasion. Mr. Patrick Rosario, visually challenged musician, playing on the accord captivated the audience with a number of compositions.

A different facet of Phoenix

Phoenix Medical Systems received the Best Company in the “Pharmaceutical, Drugs and Medical Products category.”

With over 65000 nominations for the Indiamart ET Now Leaders of Tomorrow Awards 2012 , Phoenix Medical Systems went on to receive the Best Company in the “Pharmaceutical, Drugs and Medical Products” category. The event was held at the Hotel Taj Palace, New Delhi on December 13th 2012.

1. Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal – Chairman & Group CEO of Bharti Enterprises – Guest of Honor
2. Mr. Anand Sharma – Minister of Commerce & Industry, India – Chief Guest
3. Mr. Shivinder Singh – Managing Director, Fortis Healthcare

Phoenix Medical Systems received the Leaders of Tomorrow Award for the Best Company in the “Pharmaceutical, Drugs and Medical Products category.”