SMC Ltd., has joined a growing number of medical device manufactures to open a facility in Costa Rica. The Somerset, Wisc.-based firm has been part of a joint venture in the country for about 10 years, but is set to open the doors of its own facility.
The company broke ground on the building in August, according to Bob Stoesser, vice president and general manager of Western and Central America. The first phase of the facility will be up and running in April and will be 20,000 square feet. Company officials aren’t stopping for too long before tackling next steps. SMC already is planning on expansion. Two additional phases, 20,000 and 50,000 square feet, respectively, are planned “in the near future.”
“We looked all over the country for the best location,” Stoesser told Medical Product Outsourcing. They chose the Coyol free trade zone located in San Jose. “It’s proximity to the airport and other key logistics made it the best spot.”The facility—which goes beyond component and subassembly manufacturing (which currently is what SMC does in Costa Rica)—will offer custom molding, assembly, packaging and full supply chain management onsite.
“We’re now able to offer our customers a state-of-the-art facility for clean room device assembly and testing in Costa Rica,” Stoesser added, noting that the new location gives the company flexibility to support the needs of its U.S.-based customers with facilities in Central America as well as provide a low-cost country option for higher labor projects serving the U.S. market.”
In addition to Wisconsin, SMC Ltd. also has locations in California, Massachusetts, Ohio and India—more than 500,000 square feet of medical manufacturing. The company is a contract manufacturer offering design and molding services and finished devices for the medical and pharmaceutical industries.