Terumo Planning Philippine Factory Expansion

Terumo Corp. is undergoing a growth spurt.

The Japanese medical supplies manufacturer recently announced a five-year, $45 million expansion project at its Philippines factory to accommodate a growing global customer base.

At a ceremony to commemorate the company’s 10th year in southeast Asia, Terumo Philippines Corp. President Maki Takizawa revealed that the firm is transferring the production of syringe products from Belgium to its plant in Laguna Technopark in Biñan, a city of nearly 270,000 residents located 21 miles south of Manila, the nation’s capital. The production transfer, however, will not force the closure of Terumo’s 40,000-square-meter plant in Leuven, Belgium, which also produces needles, blood tubes and needles for blood tubes.

“The expansion here is largely due to lower cost of doing business in this country,” Takizawa said.

The expansion of Terumo’s factory in Biñan would make the Philippines the company’s largest production hub for syringes. The plant produces about 1.7 billion syringe components annually (or 140 million pieces monthly). In addition to syringes, the facility also manufactures IV catheters, urinary drainage bags, safety syringes and needles. Terumo executives expect its export revenues from the Philippines factory to grow 10 percent this year.

“The expansion in the Philippines will result in improved productivity and efficiency,” Takizawa noted. He declined to estimate the number of jobs that would be created from the expansion program, claiming any new hires would depend on customers’ orders.

Terumo’s expansion plans in the Philippines were announced just three months after the company opened a new state-of-the-art manufacturing plant and expanded headquarters for its two U.S. subsidiaries—Terumo Cardiovascular Systems Corp. and Terumo Heart Inc. Both are located in Ann Arbor, Mich. Terumo Cardiovascular manufactures vascular grafts, cannulae and catheters, endoscopic devices, autotransfusion products and perfusion devices. Terumo Heart produces the DuraHeat, a third-generation left ventricular assist system.