Tegra Medical Acquires Manufacturing Operation in Costa Rica

Tegra Medical has acquired a manufacturing operation in San Jose, Costa Rica from Penn United Technologies, Inc., a diversified manufacturer of metal components and assemblies. The 20,000 sq. ft. facility is located in Global Park, a tax-free trade zone that is populated by several other medical manufacturing companies. The current operation provides metal working capabilities with a full complement of electrical discharge machining (EDM), precision grinding, turning, milling, waterjet, stamping and assembly.

"We're excited to add this capability to the Tegra Medical offering," says Bob Roche, president and CEO. "We've established our GENESIS Tech Center, Quick Wire & Tube service and Lean Centers of Excellence in the U.S. to execute on new product launches very efficiently. Now we can also provide our customers with a lower cost alternative to help them manage costs better for mature products facing price pressure. We will make additional investments in capabilities and infrastructure so that our Costa Rican operation will have many of the same systems and capabilities as our other manufacturing plants. Tegra will be adding Swiss machining and a Class 7-controlled manufacturing environment for assembly and packaging over the next several months, as well as submitting for ISO 13485:2003 and 9001:2008 certification."

Costa Rica has a rapidly developing medical device manufacturing industry, employing more than 9,000 workers. The combination of a stable democracy, highly-educated workforce, close proximity to U.S. markets and low cost to operate make it an attractive location to support the global requirements of major medical device manufacturers.