REGENSBURG, GERMANY (Sept. 4, 10:55 a.m. ET) — Gerresheimer Regensburg GmbH has expanded its medical injection molding plant in Dongguan, China, adding production of two lancing devices.

The company said moving the work from Europe allows it to keep production costs low and invest less in automation than if the work had stayed in Germany.

“Processes that are only cost-effective in Europe, if they are fully automated, can be performed in a manual or partially automated fashion,” said Manfred Baumann, chief operating officer at Gerresheimer Regensburg, in a news release. “This means fewer investments in automation technology.”

The project involves injection molding, printing and assembly of two lancing devices that the company described as “price-sensitive products.”

Gerresheimer set up production of the devices in Pfreimd, Germany, and then moved the work to its 6-year-old plant in Dongguan in accordance with preset milestones.

The company said it was able to transfer the work thanks to its production coordination unit, which specializes in these kinds of transfers, and because of because of a training program for the Chinese employees.

The Dongguan plant has 15 injection presses, two semi-automatic assembly units including welding installations and six Kent pad printing machines.

A year ago, Gerresheimer said it planned to increase its capacity in China facility four-fold in the next 18 months, and it was planning for a second factory in the country. At the time, the company said it had eight injection presses and 100 employees in Dongguan.