Moll Industries Inc. has doubled its medical work, targeted four medical-device makers and, in Latin America and Europe, increased its sales force.
``The bulk of our new investments - about 90 percent - are in medical space,'' said Paul Adkins, who has been Moll's president and chief executive officer since October.
On a sales basis, the Dallas-based firm's medical work increased to 30 percent from 15 percent over 18 months.
In customer integration efforts, Moll works to communicate directly with a prospect's top officers ``so we understand where the product set will be in two to three years,'' Adkins said in an interview at the Medical Design & Manufacturing West trade show in Anaheim. ``In our analysis and discovering process, we sell the CEO on the need to do things differently against the traditional approach.''
Moll increased its sales force in Latin America and Europe by 30 percent over three months, he said.
Clearly, Moll is on an upswing.
``We came through bankruptcy [emerging in June 2003], became lean and mean, and have the financial backing ... to strategically look at what we want to do,'' said Joe Pack, Moll vice president of sales and marketing.
He tells prospective customers, ``We want to be in the supply-chain management with you.'' When appropriate, Moll offers to take on part of a customer's risk in launching a program.
For a customer, ``the method of manufacturing and supply-chain management is as important as how I build the part,'' Pack said. He gave two examples:
* In a turnkey program, Moll manufactures human-stem-cell-reproducing cassettes for Aastrom Biosciences Inc. of Ann Arbor, Mich. Moll molds or purchases more than 160 components, assembles the cassettes in a Class 10,000 clean room in Seagrove, N.C., maintains device records and handles technical and regulatory audits. Moll also coordinates details for the Aastrom supply chain and delivers product to the firm's distribution network, initially in Germany. Certification for U.S. distribution is expected in 2007 or 2008.
* A Moll facility in Monterrey, Mexico, provides a logistics solution involving high-pressure pneumatic paintball guns for Brass Eagle of Neosho, Mo., a division of K2 Inc. Moll molds or purchases more than 40 components of plastics, rubber, die casting, powdered metal, machined metal and fasteners. Moll assembles customized retail kits in blister packs with radio-frequency-identification tags for shipment to a discounter or a sporting-goods chain. Combinations may include masks, tanks, paint balls and carbon dioxide cartridges.