T

he medical device industry found a home in Puerto Rico nearly 40 years ago, and continues to be good medicine for the island's economy. Several expansions in recent months have boosted an industry that employs more than 17,000 at nearly 70 companies, many of which have long-time ties to Puerto Rico.
      Cardinal Health, which employs more than 1,000 at six facilities on the island, opened a new manufacturing plant in Las Piedras early this year to produce its Pyxi automated medication management systems.
      "Efficiency is the primary driver," Cardinal Health spokesman Jim Mazzola says of the company's decision to expand in Las Piedras. "It's part of a broader lean manufacturing initiative."
      That's in line with the company's real estate practices. In a 2004 presentation to the Industrial Asset Management Council, Dmitry Dukhan, director of real estate administration, said new principles and methods of lease management had spurred US$6 million in savings across the portfolio.
      Here's a look at some other recent expansions in Puerto Rico:
      Surgical device maker Bard Shannon, a division of C.R. Bard Inc., is building a $45-million plant in Humacao that will create 100 jobs.
      Guidant is investing $43 million and will create 475 jobs as it builds a 115,000-sq.-ft. (10,700-sq.-m) plant to boosts its capacity to make devices for treatment of cardiac and vascular conditions. Guidant established operations in Puerto Rico in 1990 and employs 1,100 at its Dorado plant.
      Ethicon, a division of Johnson & Johnson, opened a suture manufacturing plant in the Hato Industrial Park in San Lorenzo, creating 300 jobs.
      A planned $12.5-million Biotechnology Center for Research & Bioprocess Training is scheduled to open in Mayaguez in mid-2006. The center is a joint project of the University of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Authority.