PASO ROBLES, CALIF. (Aug. 7, 12:30 p.m. ET) — Medical device maker Specialty Silicone Fabricators Inc. has consolidated its Paso Robles operations under one roof in a sprawling facility it recently constructed in the city.
In the process it closed down a campus made up of three plants. One building was demolished to make room for the new structure, and the other two will be sold, said Marketing Manager Frank East.
The facility spans about 102,000 square feet. The three factories it replaces together covered about 68,000 square feet.
SSF opened the site recently to merge all departments operating within the three-structure complex into one site to improve communication, production and morale, East said. The entire work force of about 175 employees moved from the three-building complex to the new plant, and “we are using the same machinery we used in the previous three buildings,” East said.
The San Juan Capistrano, Calif.-headquartered company’s newest plant joins two other manufacturing operations in Tustin, Calif., and Elk Rapids, Mich.
It features increased quality control, a unified floor plan and is designed for greater efficiency, the firm said. Included are a 3,500-sq.-ft. ISO 7 Class 10,000 clean room and a 35,000-sq.-ft. ISO 8 Class 100,000 clean room.
A manufacturer of custom silicone components and parts for the medical device industry, SSF’s new facility “secures our position at the forefront of silicone extrusion, molding, calendering, sheeting and dipping, while powering our expansion into new markets with combination products — the science of combining active pharmaceutical ingredients with medical devices, as well as new medical materials such as hybrid polyurethane-silicone,” according to President Kevin Meyer.
He said the larger structure was designed to support the firm’s growing medical device manufacturing base “so that we can maximize progressive partnerships,” a system that teams SSF engineers with clients to make decisions on everything from the selection of raw materials to design, all the way through to packaging.
