New boss for 3M ESPE Australia

Michael Fahey has been appointed Sales and Marketing Manager for 3M ESPE Australia following the promotion of his predecessor, Ian Ferrier, to Business Operations Manager - 3M Medical division.

"Dental is a completely new area for me and I'm looking forward to the challenge," Mr Fahey said. "Ian was well liked and well respected and an intricate part of the industry. He's brought the business to where it is today to be the market leader in a number of key segments and we need to further leverage that position. He was also critical in the merger of 3M and ESPE and we're very fortunate that he is still within 3M so as we can draw on his experience and advice."

Mr Fahey has worked for 3M for the past five years including three years in Health Information Systems marketing software to hospitals for coding and grouping of medical records and case mix analysis. He has a Bachelor of Commerce in marketing and international business.

The 16-person sales and marketing team reporting to Mr Fahey at 3M ESPE includes Sales Manager Sue McGarry; eight reps who service clients nationally; Marketing Manager Linda Rafferty; three marketers; two Product Managers and an Assistant Product Manager. The organisation's two Professional Services representatives, Stephen Langdon and Grace Cara, report to Anne Zele, Technical Manager - 3M Medical and Dental.

"The marketing team at 3M ESPE is fairly new, so one of our main focuses is to maximise our effectiveness and to bring new ideas into the business. The sales team, conversely, are all very experienced in the business, so it is of tremendous opportunity for both arms to become more closely aligned and focussed on achieving our goals.

"Overall we want to ensure operational excellence in everything we do. We want to focus more on our customers and generate more customer intimacy.

"The Melbourne dental show was a great learning curve. One key point that was immediately apparent was that our sales people are very confident and experienced with great relationships with dentists. They know our products and customers very well and this is an asset we will nurture.

"It was a relatively small but well organised show so it was also good way of seeing what everyone else in the industry is doing. Part of my role is to look at the market through new eyes and to bring in new ideas and it is of value to see what is currently being tried.

"Having said that, the next 3 to 6 months will be spent learning the business, and seeing what needs to be done, in order for us to enhance our customer intimacy, improve operational excellence and take 3M ESPE from strength to strength.

"It will be challenging, but I am looking forward to it and getting involved in the business and learning about dentistry."