When Tzimas talks about efficiency, it’s not theoretical.
It’s personal.
Before becoming President/CEO of ONE TRAY®/IST, Tim spent years inside operating rooms, working shoulder-to-shoulder with surgeons, sterile processing teams, and hospital leaders. He saw firsthand how surgical innovation was accelerating — but instrument workflows were lagging far behind.
And then COVID hit.
A Breaking Point That Sparked a Vision
“When elective cases stopped during COVID, I finally had time to step back,” Tim recalls. “And what I saw was hard to ignore.”
Hospitals were overwhelmed. Sterile Processing Departments were clogged with trays. OEMs were shipping massive instrument sets — often days in advance — knowing that up to 80% of those instruments would never be used in the case.
“It was a belt-and-suspenders approach,” Tim says. “We didn’t know what size implant a surgeon would need, so we sent everything. That meant six or seven trays per case, hundreds of line items, and an enormous burden on SPD.”
But robotics changed everything.
With pre-operative CT scans, surgeons now know weeks in advance exactly what implant sizes they’ll use. The data exists. The variability is gone.
“So the question became simple,” Tim says. “If we already know what we need, why are we still sending — and processing — what we don’t?”
From Data to Discipline: Reimagining Instrument Sets
Tim began working with his teams to rethink instrument delivery from the ground up.
Instead of sending every possible size, they adopted a one-up, one-down approach — sending only the needed implant size, plus one size above and below. On the instrument side, he challenged reps to consolidate seven trays into three.
The result?
- Fewer trays
- Faster processing
- Less congestion in SPD
- Cleaner, more organized OR tables
But there was a problem.
“Throwing instruments into wire baskets isn’t a solution,” Tim explains. “It looks chaotic, it’s hard for scrub techs, and those baskets aren’t efficient.”
What hospitals and OEMs needed wasn’t just consolidation — it was validated, standardized consolidation.
That’s when Tim found IST.
Discovering a Solution That Was Already Built
“When I saw EZ-TRAX™ and ONE TRAY®, it clicked immediately,” Tim says. “This company had already done the hard work.”
EZ-TRAX™ made it possible to consolidate and organize instruments in a way that was intuitive for the OR and efficient for SPD. ONE TRAY® provided a sealed sterilization container that removed the variability and vulnerability of wrap — while supporting faster reprocessing and predictable workflows.
Using the IST Total Solution, Tim reduced a typical five-case day from 49 trays down to 22 — including backups.
And the hospitals noticed.
“They loved it,” he says. “But more importantly, they trusted it — because it was validated.”
Why This Matters Even More in ASCs
As more total joint procedures shift to Ambulatory Surgery Centers, the margin for inefficiency disappears.
“ASCs weren’t designed to handle big-bone cases with massive instrument inventories,” Tim explains. “They don’t have the space, the washers, or the sterilizer capacity for 40-plus trays a day.”
But they can handle 10 or 11.
By consolidating sets and leveraging faster reprocessing, teams can stagger trays throughout the day — reprocessing instruments from earlier cases to support later ones.
“No logjams. No stockpiling. No unnecessary backups,” Tim says. “Just smarter flow.”
The Holy Trinity of Consolidation
Tim describes consolidation as a three-way win — what he calls the “holy trinity”; in patient care and operational excellence.
- The Surgeon
Surgeons don’t want unused instruments in the OR. Fewer instruments mean fewer touches, lower risk, and cleaner setups — without sacrificing confidence. - The Hospital or ASC
Standardized trays reduce complexity, lower processing burden, and make it easier for staff to do things right — consistently. - The OEM
Fewer trays mean less manufacturing, less loss, and less capital tied up in instruments that rarely get used.
“Over 70% of knees are already robotic — and that number is climbing fast,” Tim says. “So why are we still building and shipping legacy tray configurations?”
When everyone wins, adoption isn’t hard.
A CEO with a Clear Mission
Tim didn’t join IST to tweak around the edges.
He joined because the company represents a fundamental shift in how the industry thinks about instrumentation, sterilization, and workflow.
“This isn’t about making one group happy,” he says. “It’s about aligning the entire ecosystem — surgeons, facilities, and manufacturers — around efficiency, consistency, and smarter use of resources.”
As more care moves to ASCs and expectations continue to rise, the market will demand change.
“If you’re an ASC and someone wants to send you 40 trays for five cases,” Tim says, “at some point the answer is going to be no.”
And when that happens, IST and ONE TRAY® will already be there.
If you would like to hear more from Tim or grab a virtual coffee, reach out to us at [email protected]
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