Butler-based
MRPC, a contract manufacturer of medical device assemblies and components, has completed a $2 million renovation project at its headquarters.
The eight-month project focused on repurposing existing space in one of the company’s buildings into a state-of-the-art cleanroom.
A cleanroom is a controlled environment that reduces the risk of contamination to a company’s products. MRPC’s newest cleanroom, which brings the company's total to seven, uses HEPA-filtered air.
“It dramatically reduces the contamination level so that we can ensure what we’re making for our customers is contaminant-free,” said
Greg Riemer, president and chief executive officer of MRPC.
The cleanroom houses new technology including vertical molding machines to process high consistency silicone rubber, automated thermoplastic injection molding machines to handle secondary processes, and automation with vision systems machines, which will check the quality of parts. The introduction of more automation is aimed at reducing any errors that might occur during the manufacturing process.
“Automation, to include real-time process monitoring, was a focus of this cleanroom expansion project,” said
Carl Lider, MRPC’s chief operating officer. “Automation enables us to redeploy the MRPC talent to perform more value-added work instead of the repetitive tasks that automation can handle, and it enables us to standardize repeatable processes and offer customers more competitive solutions."
MRPC specializes in making disposable surgical instruments. The company’s core competency is molding, said Riemer. Those instruments are then sold to medical device original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
MRPC shifted production of an older product line to a different area of the facility to make room for the new cleanroom. The cleanroom space will be dedicated to a MRPC customer with a “very strong demand forecast increase,” said Riemer. The new technology featured in the cleanroom doubles MRPC’s capacity to make this product.
The new cleanroom created space for device assembly, packaging and other finished medical device assembly processes, growing areas of MRPC's business.
“It’s an evolution that’s been going on for several years in the medical device community,” said Riemer. “Big medical companies used to be very vertically integrated. Now, they’ve changed their strategy to focus on the design, development, and sales of medical devices.”
That means suppliers like MRPC have been asked to take on a larger role in providing finished devices.
As MRPC continues to grow, more traditional manufacturing space will be converted into cleanrooms, said Riemer.
The company will also be looking to add more employees. Riemer did not have an exact estimate as to how many positions might be added but said MRPC has been actively hiring over the past five years. The company’s employee count currently stands at about 300 people.
MRPC has three locations including its headquarters in Butler; a facility in Hudson, New Hampshire; and a plant in Largo, Florida.
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