History
A LONG, RICH HISTORY OF ORTHOPEDICS IN WARSAW
Warsaw, Indiana is known as the “Orthopedic Capital of the World®” and is the birthplace of orthopedic design and manufacturing. Many of the top orthopedic companies in the world started and still reside in Warsaw.
Warsaw is the home to the highest concentration of orthopedic design and manufacturing in the world. The orthopedic industry in and around Warsaw employs approximately 13,000 people and represents 1/3rd of the world’s orthopedic manufacturing, including nearly 2/3rds of hip and knee manufacturing.
It all started in 1895, when a chemist and pharmaceutical salesman named Revra DePuy sat in a room at the Hayes Hotel in downtown Warsaw, with the idea to manufacture fiber splints that could be customized to fit patients. Revra founded the DePuy Manufacturing Company in Warsaw, based upon its strategic location to intersecting railroads for nationwide distribution.
As the business evolved, a team of salesman complemented the business. One of those salesman was Justin O. Zimmer. In 1927, Zimmer would go on to start his own orthopedic company due to his frustrations with the lack of advancement in technology.
The basement of the Zimmer house at Winona Avenue and Indiana Street in Warsaw became the manufacturing hub of Zimmer. Zimmer eventually moved to its first official building on North Detroit Street. Once in the new location, the business grew rapidly.
In 1977, four former Zimmer employees started Biomet, Inc. in Warsaw. Headed by Dane Miller, this group’s mission was to set a new standard of quality and clinical durability in the orthopedic industry. They quickly became a worldwide leader in the medical device industry. Biomet broke ground on their current facility in 1980. In 2014, Zimmer announced it would purchase Biomet and today the company is known as Zimmer Biomet.
In 2002, a former DePuy distributor, Rod Mayer, along with three partners founded Deo Volente Orthopedics (DVO) in a small building on Winona Avenue in Warsaw. DVO focused on the development and commercialization of innovative orthopedic products for the upper extremity market. DVO would eventually be purchased by French company Tornier in 2007. Tornier went on to merge with Wright Medical in 2015 and has retained the Warsaw location as the headquarters for Upper Extremity R&D.
OrthoPediatrics was founded by local orthopedic executives in 2006 to focus on the neglected field of orthopedic implants for children. Initially headquartered at 210 N. Buffalo Street in Warsaw, the company steadily grew and relocated to its current location on Frontier Drive. OrthoPediatrics remains to be one of the worldwide leaders in the orthopedic pediatric market.
In 2013, Nextremity Solutions moved its corporate headquarters from Red Bank, NJ to 210 North Buffalo St. in Warsaw. The company’s focus was on foot and ankle solutions, but has evolved into a musculoskeletal product development and commercialization company.
In 2017, Ignite Orthopedics opens its doors at 210 North Buffalo Street alongside the orthopedic giants in historic downtown Warsaw.
Other orthopedic companies and manufacturers that call the Warsaw area home are:
- Wishbone Medical
- Medtronic
- Tecomet
- Precision Medical
- B&M
- Avalign
- Rayco
- Paragon
- Recon Co.
- Instrumedical Technologies, Inc.
- Danco
- Banner Medical
- Micropulse
- NN Precision Engineered Products
Read more:
Medical Device Mecca Has Good Bones
Warsaw, Indiana: The Capital of Orthopedic Devices
Welcome to Warsaw: Indiana’s Orthopedics Capital of the World