In the midst of going public, MedSource Technologies Inc. announced plans to close two long-established New England sites and relocate those operations to Corry, Pa., within a year.
``The consolidation is designed to meet customer expectations for an efficient and integrated manufacturing process,'' Richard J. Effress, MedSource chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement. MedSource provides engineering and manufacturing services to the increasingly competitive medical device industry.
MedSource will shut a Pittsfield, Mass., design, product development and tool-building site and a Danbury, Conn., operation with insert and injection molding, extrusion, assembly and engineering capabilities.
MedSource added the sites in January 2000 through the purchases of Apex Engineering Inc. in Pittsfield and Bespak plc's Tenax Corp. unit in Danbury.
Donald Rochelo had established Apex in 1983 and remained with MedSource through the transition. Bespak had acquired Tenax in 1992.
The 72 workers in Pittsfield and 115 in Danbury will receive transition and re-employment assistance and possible work opportunities at other MedSource sites including Northeast locations in Laconia, N.H.; Newton, Brimfield and Norwell, Mass.; and Orchard Park, N.Y.
The Corry plant does metal injection molding and will add toolmaking and plastics injection molding capabilities. The Pittsfield facility makes tools for plastics processing and, since the acquisition, has added capability to make molds for metal processing.
Separately, MedSource will close an East Longmeadow, Mass., precision laser welding site that employs 53. The company will shift the work to Brooklyn Park, Minn.
``We have not ruled out the possibility of someone else buying the facilities,'' Steven Mogensen, MedSource sales director, said by telephone. Med- Source owns the Pittsfield and Brimfield locations and leases the other sites.
On Jan. 16, MedSource filed a Securities and Exchange Commission registration statement about plans for an upcoming initial public offering.
The filing said Plymouth, Minn.-based MedSource employed more than 1,350 and had a loss of $19.5 million on sales of $128.5 million for the fiscal year ended June 30. Johnson & Johnson affiliates and Medtronic Inc. each accounted for more than 10 percent of revenues.