Bringing Mobility-Restoring Prosthetics to Patients Around the World

Penta Medical Recycling collects used prostheses to bring high-quality, low-cost prosthetic care to amputees around the world, while repurposing what would otherwise be considered medical waste in the United States. 

In order to track and distribute these prosthetics and component parts to their partners, Penta relied on manual and time-consuming workflows. Team members would audit their inventory by writing down each item to later communicate with partners the status of their order. Often, clinics and hospitals would email directly hoping they had the necessary components, requiring the Penta team to track down what was in stock before fulfilling an order - adding additional complexity to their inventory management.

Penta turned to Prometheus for a custom application that significantly expanded its operational capacity. The new inventory management tool streamlined logistics, saving the team valuable time at the warehouse. Now partners can easily request and search for in-stock parts directly through the tool, eliminating the need for lengthy back-and-forth email exchanges. Automated communication features have also enhanced Penta's ability to keep its growing list of donors informed, a task previously impossible due to limited staffing.  With these improvements, Penta has spent more time developing key partnerships and has shipped more accurate orders with mobility-restoring parts to patients.

Between launching the new platform in December 2021 and August 2024, Penta has sent 102 shipments to partner clinics across 29 countries, totaling over 6,100 components and helping well over 1,000 people to walk. This effort has diverted over 6,000 pounds of waste from landfills, turning what would have been discarded into life-changing support for those in need. Penta is also on track for another record-breaking year in 2024, already surpassing the total number of components shipped in 2023.