Viant expanding Costa Rica factory by 43 percent

Medical device manufacturer Viant Medical is expanding its existing footprint in Costa Rica by 43 percent and hiring 500 additional employees over the next few months.

The expansion primarily will support complex interventional and other minimally invasive devices produced by Viant for a variety of clients, largely in the surgical space. The site will grow from four buildings to seven, for a total footprint of more than 250,000 square feet. Foxborough, Mass.-based Viant expects new manufacturing and warehouse buildings to be in use by the end of November, with an additional manufacturing building opening in March 2023.

Viant first opened its Heredia, Costa Rica, facility in 2005 when the firm was known as Medtech. It had served as a manufacturing facility for a previous owner since 1994.

Viant completed a $10 million expansion of that plant in April 2021 to support the growth of its liquid silicone rubber molding capabilities. The site specializes in thermoplastic and elastomeric molding, extrusion and complex assembly for the interventional and surgical sectors within the medical device field. The Costa Rican plant emphasizes lean product launches with its Lean Production Preparation Process (3P), delivering speed to market, optimized cost and assured quality.

The majority of open positions Viant is hiring for are in the direct labor space, largely high-intensity molding and assembly roles. Additional positions in manufacturing, engineering, supply chain, quality and leadership are open as well, said Andy Reding, Viant chief commercial officer. Even though the medical device industry might require a lower volume than consumer products, the Costa Rican plant includes high-volume lines to support equipment for minimally invasive surgical products along with the manufacturing of components for cardiac, respiratory and orthopedic products.

"We do moldings, elastomers and other thermoplastics that are vertically integrated into an assembled product," Reding said. The 500 new positions will be added to the 900 employees already working there, and a second wave of new hires is expected in 2023. That will "fully double the work force," he added.

"We have new programs coming online soon and are confident we can hire the (positions) we need because the unemployment rate (in Costa Rica) is pretty high and we offer competitive pay," Reding said.

Expansion also will result in new employee amenities such as green space, modern cafeterias, and an open, collaborative workspace. This expansion gives Viant the opportunity to create comfortable new spaces for associates to gather during work or while on breaks. That is just as important as offering good pay in today's market, Reding said.

One of the advantages of having a facility in Costa Rica is that the country has a highly educated population of workers with the skills and knowledge to excel in their roles. That access to labor, and lower overall costs compared to managing operations in the U.S. or much of Europe, is highly appealing to the manufacturer and explains why other medical device companies are flocking to the country.

"It's not easy to find employees who want to come work for you, but [in Costa Rica] they are willing to travel for the right employer," he said. "Customers expect us to deliver high-quality products on time, and we need to make sure we have the associates and collective expertise to do that."

Viant does have supply chain challenges from plastics to metals to assembly work. A bill of materials may be highly constrained at times, but those same challenges would be present just about anywhere in the world, Reding said.

The facility will have additional capacity to support medical device manufacturers looking to outsource manufacturing, a growing trend. Outsourcing allows medical device manufacturers to focus on the innovation that's core to their business while partnering with companies like Viant that specialize in manufacturing.

Privately held Viant did not make the details of its most recent investment public, but Reding said it is willing to enter into investment relationships with customers, welcoming them to visit any facility to get a first-hand view of the operations. In that type of shared investment relationship, Viant will share volume with customers, add machines and build a clean room. Over the course of the past three years, Viant has added three LSR presses and 30 thermoplastic injection molding machines to support client partnerships, he said.

While Viant is not releasing news about specific growth plans, the company is willing to expand its business in plastics, molding and other similar rubber manufacturing capabilities where demand is present. It is eying new investments for future plants and will consider expanding its existing facilities where additional volume will lead to profits. Reding confirmed that the company will continue to serve a broad set of customers in the medical device and life science space.

"We are definitely in expansion mode," he said.

Viant employs nearly 6,000 associates across 25 worldwide locations, concentrating on what it called "mission-critical projects in the medical device field."