Medical-device maker Synergetics USA Inc. of O'Fallon, Mo., has bought injection molder and toolmaker Medimold Inc. for $80,000.
The purchase will allow Synergetics, which now outsources its injection molding work, to bring that capability in-house. Publicly traded Synergetics designs, manufactures and markets devices for use primarily in ophthalmic surgery and neurosurgery.
``We had sourced out a number of higher-volume parts for injection molding and found it difficult to get the attention of a lot of injection molders,'' said Kurt Gampp, Synergetics executive vice president and chief operating officer. ``Our high volume was not high volume to them, so we decided to create the capability for ourselves.''
Medimold has three presses, with clamping forces of 75-250 tons, he said June 24 by phone. The molder's plant, located about five miles from Synergetics, will remain open as a subsidiary. Medimold was run by Larry Holmes, who will continue as its manager.
Gampp is looking to expand Medimold as a specialty medical molding house, with new equipment and probably a clean room in the long range, he said.
The acquisition also offers Synergetics a way to cut costs as it looks to convert some of its metal parts into lower-cost injection molded plastic. One possibility he noted is a disposable, illuminated infusion cannula that requires a lot of machining.
``It is high-volume and very expensive to manufacture. It screams loudly for injection molding,'' Gampp said.
Synergetics was started in a garage in 1992 by Gampp and Gregg Scheller, its president and chief executive officer, as a way to furnish retinal surgeons with microsurgical instruments. It has grown to focus on vitreoretinal, neurosurgery and ear, nose and throat surgery markets.
The firm's sales for its fiscal 2008 third quarter were $13.5 million, compared with $11.5 million for the same period a year ago.
