ANAHEIM, CALIF. (MArch 27, 12:30 p.m. ET) — Jeff Somple is a lot more bullish on 2012 than many of his counterparts in the medical industry, most of whom are forecasting growth in the high single digits or low teens.
“I see 20 percent growth for us for the next 12 months” in medical, said Somple who is president of Mack Molding's northern operations, based in Arlington, Vt. That projection is one of the reasons the company created a new business unit for orthopedics and disposable medical devices, he said.
“We have launched so many projects in medical since last summer that we think 2012 will be a great year,” he said. “The level of new business activity in the last 12 months is the best I've ever seen it. We have one major program [coming up] that will be one of the largest programs we ever have had in medical.”
The firm is working with many of the 30 largest OEMs, he added.
Somple said Mack has also gotten a boost from work coming back to the U.S. from China.
“We see work coming back to the U.S. because of counterfeiting and quality issues,” he said. “In addition, end users in the U.S. are demanding [just-in-time] manufacturing. With the need to make engineering changes, more of that work is going to stay here.”
The company has new programs that will be fully launched this year, he said.
“This should be a year of fulfilling and beginning those programs.”
Mack Molding has about $300 million in sales and operates 126 injection molding machines ranging in clamping force from 28-4,000 tons. It has 1,800 employees in 10 locations.
