EVOLVE Business and Professional Magazine August 2019 | Page 15

same amount of product –
actually over time it grew
to more than that. It was a
significant step forward and
also a world class building,”
he said.
Foresight and proper
planning with the initial
purchase ensured the ability
to expand the facility in 2004
before the FDA approval of
their new drug application
(NDA) for pharmaceuticals.
The launch of a product
line of sterile replacement
fluids in 2006, proving to
Pete von Lersner
be profitable for the plant,
helped provide a solid argument for keeping the plant open when
production of the hemodialysis concentrate was discontinued, and
half of the plant sat idle.
Gambro’s consolidation efforts and changes in ownership
brought a sense of foreboding over the next few years, as a private
equity firm took the helm, with plans to sell off the Daytona Beach
plant in 2010. Baxter International’s 2012-13 purchase of Gambro
Healthcare once again put the plant in the crosshairs for sale. This
time, B. Braun, who had been excluded from consideration during
2010’s initial sale listing, acquired the Daytona Beach facility
in 2014.
“We were ideal for B. Braun because they had something on
the west coast and really wanted something on the east coast,” said
von Lersner, who worked closely with the transition team to retain
some of the skilled talent on the workforce.
From his perspective, it was about the right place at the
right time.
Speed to market, a welcoming community, location and a
skilled workforce were all incentives for B. Braun Medical, Inc.
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Bruce Huegel,
who led the site selection starting in 2013, to choose the Daytona
Beach facility for their east coast operations.
“We’re in a highly regulated industry, FDA compliant,” said
Huegel. “We make medical devices and as a result it may take eight
years or so before we have a property and actually start making
product on that property,” he said.
A call from then Florida Governor Rick Scott, indications
of Gambro-Baxter looking to exit the property and a positive
reception by local officials and business leaders in the community
helped seal the deal.
“Being an international company we want to make sure we are
going to places we are wanted,” said Huegel.
“We are competing globally, so we have to make sure that our
manufacturing costs are competitive, and the labor pool will be
sufficient. We already went from zero to 120 high skilled laborers,
so we have to make sure there’s a good labor pool. The fact that
we had a site here that already had the infrastructure, that saved
us two years, possibly three, so that’s speed to market. It’s been so
successful that we started out with one project and now we’re up to
six,” he said.
Efficiency in operations … Getting a Hand
from Technology
The manufacturing industry has continued to grow, and
according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, “manufacturers
contributed $2.38 trillion to the U.S. economy in the fourth quarter
of 2018.”
Factoring in technology’s rapidly evolving changes, consumer
demand and the cost of doing business, companies today,
especially in the manufacturing industry, keep a close eye on the
bottom line.

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