enmark-headquartered Coloplast is looking east with its latest expansions, and that may be a harbinger for the company's future.
   Coloplast, which specializes in ostomy and incontinence products, as well as wound care, is building a second manufacturing plant in Hungary and is close to opening a factory in Zhuhai, China. The movement comes as the company consolidates six Denmark manufacturing sites into three.
   Coloplast opened its first Hungary plant in 2003 in Tatabanya, and the experience has been positive, says Jorgen Hansen, senior vice president, global operations for Coloplast.
   "We have 900 employees in Tatabanya, which is an hour from Budapest," Hansen says. "We are now expanding in the eastern part of Hungary."
   The new plant will be Nyirbator, located in an economically depressed region with high unemployment. While a 20,000-sq.-m. (214,000-sq.-ft.) facility is constructed, Coloplast is operating in a leased facility, a strategy the company employed for the Tatabanya plant. The Nyirbator plant will eventually employ 600.
   "It's not as wealthy a location as where we are now," Hansen says. "Our investment will make a difference to the community."
   Hansen says his company's positive experience with its first Hungary plant made it easy to site a second. The plant will serve all of Coloplast's global markets and will be based on the lean flow method with the entire manufacturing process per product being executed under one roof.
   Coloplast is also establishing a larger presence in China with the Zhuhai plant set to be operational by the end of the year. Hansen says Coloplast will move in machinery from Denmark and will also build machines locally in China.
   "The Chinese site has two purposes," Hansen says "Firstly, we are able to manufacture at attractive costs with high-skilled employees. Secondly, we are starting to have significant volumes in China and the opportunity to develop manufacturing systems locally will give us savings on capital investments."
   The Zhuhai plant, identical to the one being built in Hungary, will also eventually employ 600. The machinery-building operation is already in place and employing 45. Coloplast has operated in Zhuhai, which is in southern China, for 10 years with previous production for the local market. The new plant will also serve export markets.
   While no other expansions are currently on the planning board, Hansen says it is likely future growth will come either in Eastern Europe or China.
   "If we have more development, those are the areas we will look at. After we complete the Hungary plant, we will have a solid base. We will look at expansion in China or possibly in other Eastern European countries. It could also be in Latin America. That's not something that's in our plans, but if we acquire a business that makes our revenue much larger in the U.S., we could establish something closer to the U.S."    Coloplast is also part of the expanding Minnesota medical device cluster, much of which is in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. The company has moved its head U.S. office to Minneapolis. Hansen says Coloplast has no current plans to transfer manufacturing from its current sites in Minneapolis and Mankato.
   The Twin Cities cluster is seeing considerable other growth. St. Jude Medical, which makes medical devices for cardiology and neurology markets, plans to begin phase one of a 20-year project this fall to expand its headquarters in the St. Paul suburb of Little Canada. This will include a 200,000-sq.-ft. (18,580-sq.-m.) building.
   "We have experienced significant and sustained growth throughout the world, but our longstanding headquarters has been in St. Paul," says Kathleen Janasz, a St. Jude spokeswoman.
   TriVirix, a contract manufacturer of electro-mechanical systems and medical devices, is expanding its facility in Milaca with 35,000 sq. ft. (3,250 sq. m.) of new space.    Terumo Medical Corp., whose product line includes syringes, infusion devices, cardiovascular products and veterinary equipment, has opened a 248,000-sq.-ft. (23,000-sq.-m.) factory in the Quang Minh Industrial Zone in Vietnam's Vinh Phuc province. Terumo invested $23 million in the facility, which will employ 140.
   Terumo has already established plants in China, the Philippines, and India, as its Asian base. The company says the Vietnam plant, which will serve Japan and the rest of Asia, will help meet expected mid- and long-term growth.
   Terumo established the new plant through an investment license issued by the Vietnam Ministry of Planning and Investment.