AngioDynamics Strives for ‘Operational Excellence,’ Cuts Jobs

AngioDynamics, a Queensbury, N.Y.-based maker of minimally invasive medical devices for vascular access, surgery, peripheral vascular disease and oncology, has started an “operational excellence” program designed to save $15 million to $18 million during the next three years.

According to the company, the initiative is expected to create “greater efficiencies and drive business performance improvements by focusing on several key elements, including product rationalization, Lean initiatives, supply chain optimization and enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation.”

The plan also incorporates the consolidation of the company’s New York plants to establish a single manufacturing center of excellence in Glens Falls and a distribution center of excellence in Queensbury.

AngioDynamics plans to invest $5 million to $7 million in its Glens Falls facility, on top of approximately $2 million in one-off charges, to increase its capacity to accommodate the additional lines coming from the Queensbury plant, where the company will maintain its distribution facility. During the course of the three-year program it is expected that the company’s New York employee base will be reduced by approximately 80-100 positions as a result of the reorganization.

“Our operational excellence program is focused on creating an organization that is more efficient within the context of its current assets,” said George Bourne, senior vice president and chief technology & operations Officer. “We believe bringing our New York manufacturing teams under one roof and centralizing our distribution center will result in the propagation of best practices and continuous improvement techniques, while also contributing to our overall efforts to reduce costs.”

“The three-year savings of $15 million to $18 million will build on our initial integration savings of $10 million in fiscal 2013 and $5 million in fiscal 2014,” added Mark Frost, chief financial officer. “This is an opportunity to not only bolster the gains earned through recent acquisitions and the execution of our strategic plan, but to invest in our New York team to position us well for the future by proactively anticipating, and reacting to, the rapidly changing healthcare industry.”

AngioDynamics’ diverse product lines include market-leading ablation systems, fluid management systems, vascular access products, angiographic products and accessories, angioplasty products, drainage products, thrombolytic products and venous products.