Contractor Seeks Shot in Arm From Medical Work

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For most of its 22-year history, Premio Inc. has assembled custom computers and built screens into machines – like Redbox movie rental kiosks.

But now the company is looking to branch out into medical equipment, from portable ultrasound machines to patient monitors, a market that could mean big growth for the City of Industry contract manufacturer.

“The medical industry has not been affected by the economy at all,” said Gene Lee, vice president of marketing. “There’s quite a bit of funding and demand. It’s a market everyone has identified as full of opportunities.”

Premio already had the technology and manufacturing know-how to build medical devices, and had even built components that other companies integrated into their devices. But it lacked a certification that most medical device companies require from contract manufacturers.

So Premio spent most of the past year getting a medical device manufacturing certification from the International Organization for Standardization, a global body that develops specifications for manufacturing and other business practices.

Lee said that Premio started the certification process late last year. After about 10 months of employee training and audits, as well as investment in new equipment, the company received certification this summer. Now, Premio, which employs 121 workers at its headquarters, is marketing itself to medical device companies.

Lee said few other companies have Premio’s expertise with touch screens, which are becoming more common on medical devices. He expects to market the company’s experience building servers to makers of MRIs and other scanners that need built-in storage for digital images.

“If someone is providing a portable ultrasound, in the past we were able to provide a module with a touch screen. Now, we can pretty much build the whole thing,” he said. “It should help us reach more into the market.”

New Management

Premio isn’t the only company looking to cash in on medical devices. Last week, London private-equity firm Nova Capital Management Ltd. announced it would buy a portfolio of companies including Carson manufacturer Coast Wire & Plastic Tech Inc., a maker of custom cables and wires.

Much of Coast Wire’s business is with makers of medical devices, making the company an attractive target for Nova, said Jan Kreminksi, one of Nova’s operating partners.

“All these companies are serving either very stable or growing end markets,” he said. “Medical is a good example.”

Coast Wire makes custom-designed wires and cables for specific applications. For instance, Kreminski said the company can make tiny wires that are thousandths of an inch thick and could be used in medical implants.

The company was one of five subsidiaries of Wichita, Kan., industrial group Latshaw Enterprises Inc. Nova bought all of that company’s holdings, including MC Electronics Inc., an electrical assembly maker in Hollister, as well as manufacturers in Kansas and Colorado that make parts for the natural gas, battery, and lawn and garden industries.

Nova said the five companies have about 450 employees and combined annual sales $90 million.

Kreminski would not disclose Cost Wire’s sales or employee count, but he said the company will likely employ more workers as it moves into new markets.

“We’ll be looking at aerospace and defense, and international expansion. Right now, they’re very U.S. focused,” he said. “To grow a business, you’ve got to grow with people. I would imagine additional resources and, hence, additional employment are on the horizon.”

Pallet Process

The pallet racks built by Vernon manufacturer Hannibal Industries Inc. don’t look all that special – but they are on closer inspection.

Picture the huge steel shelves found at a Costco or any industrial distribution center. Those are generally held up by support pillars in the shape of rectangular channels and are formed by bending sheet metal. Hannibal employs its expertise manufacturing tubes for motorcycles to make closed, square pillars similar to pipes.

Blanton Bartlett, Hannibal’s chief executive, said his Tube Rack system, which hit the market this year, is stronger and safer than conventional pallet racks. Square pillars are less likely to crumple if accidentally rammed by a forklift and, coupled with a proprietary system for attaching shelves, are more flexible in an earthquake.

“It flexes and rolls instead of snapping and breaking,” Bartlett said.

Storage Solutions Inc., a Westfield, Ind., company that sells pallet rack systems, recently installed a Tube Rack system at a distribution center in Bakersfield. Kevin Rowles, president of Storage Solutions, said the racks distribute weight better so warehouse foundations can be built with less concrete.

“That’s one thing that could be a potential reduction in cost for a big client that’s building distribution centers,” he said. “That’s truly innovative in an industry where not much changes very often.”


Staff reporter James Rufus Koren can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 225.

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