The MedTech Group is one of the leading suppliers of molding for medical devices and components in the world.

Premier Business Partners:

New Pak, Inc.

George Blank, founder of The MedTech Group, worked for Johnson & Johnson for more than 30 years, and in that time discovered there were few plastic molding operations that could meet the exacting needs of the medical industry. “He sensed a need for a medical molder, someone who catered to medical companies,” Vice President and General Manager John Pfaff says.   

Today, as the company celebrates its 30th anniversary, The MedTech Group is a full-service contract manufacturer of medical devices and components. Its offers contract products, custom devices, injection mold building, contract product design and clean room injection molding. Device manufacturing currently accounts for nearly half of the company’s operations.    

Beginning in 1990, The MedTech Group became a global operation with the addition of facilities in Central America and Asia. Pfaff says it recognized the number of medical device companies headquartered in Puerto Rico and established a molding plant there. Four years ago, the company established a manufacturing facility in Costa Rica, and followed that two years later with another in Singapore. Pfaff says customer demands drive its growth. “We keep asking our customers, ‘What services do you need from a full-service contractor?’” he says.   

Even though the market is full of injection molding companies trying to court the medical industry, Pfaff says, The MedTech Group stands apart thanks to its specific expertise in the medical sector and full-service capabilities. In addition, the company practices lean manufacturing to reduce costs and increase efficiencies.
    
Knowing the Business
Perhaps the biggest difference between The MedTech Group and many of its competitors is its experience. “One of the major ones is that – from the start – The MedTech Group’s upper management was made up of people who came out of the medical industry who came out to manufacture parts,” Pfaff says. “Today, everybody says they’re medical molders, but they don’t quite understand all the regulatory issues and entrance issues to the market.”   

A strong background in the medical industry is important for any firm trying to serve medical customers because of the amount of regulation involved. Injection molders have to comply with FDA standards and quality system regulations. “Industry knowledge is very important, and if you don’t have those quality procedures and knowledge, you’re not going to get very far,” Pfaff says.    

Having that knowledge also makes it easier for The MedTech Group to relate to its customers. “Most of us have a background of starting with medical device companies first,” Pfaff says. “We truly do listen to the voice of the customer.” He adds that customers come to trust The MedTech Group because “we look like, feel like and smell like themselves.”   

The MedTech Group also has the upper hand in the sense that other contract manufacturers don’t have the same capabilities it has. Pfaff says customers appreciate the fact that the company can provide virtually all the services its customers need. “We offer an economic plus for them in that there’s no need for our customers to hire the designers and build the facilities for manufacturing when they can just outsource it to us,” he says.

Leaner and Better
Customers may be even more enticed to trust The MedTech Group with their manufacturing needs when they see how the company runs its facilities. It uses a combination of lean and Six Sigma, and Pfaff says improving efficiency is ongoing. “When we set up an assembly line for the device, we use lean and Six Sigma to redesign the manufacturing process, using things like one-piece flow and standard work instructions,” he says.    

MedTech’s use of lean techniques will continue to be a major factor in its success in the future, Pfaff says. In addition, he says, it will continue to hold itself to high ethical standards even though not all of its competitors do the same. “Sometimes that surprises us, because if you think about it, all we’re doing is practicing what our mothers taught us when we were very young,” he says. “We as a group and as a company find that pretty surprising. It’s just contrary to the way we conduct our business.”