The Monks Corner factory, which has manufactured medical products for half a century, is closing.
Becton, Dickinson & Co., known as BD, plans to close its Berkeley County plant with 274 employees making urinary catheters by 2025, according to a layoff notice filed with the state labor department. .
Company spokesman Troy Kirkpatrick said in a written statement that employees were informed a year ago that the Powerhouse Road store was closing.
“It was a difficult but necessary decision to move all manufacturing from Monks Corner to another existing manufacturing facility that also manufactures catheters,” he said.
“This move will help BD leverage existing resources and available capabilities, centralize our products, and ultimately streamline our operations to operate more effectively and efficiently,” said Kirkpatrick. said Mr.
He added that the Franklin Lakes, N.J.-based medical technology company expects this change to come in “waves” over the next two years.
“Upon completion of the transfer, we plan to close the Monks Corner facility,” he said in a statement.
The company also said it is working with states and working with other locations to “provide future employment opportunities for employees.”
The Delivery Solutions business, which includes the catheter business, has lagged behind BD’s broader medical field, with sales up about 4% to $2.36 billion in the first half of the current fiscal year, but overall group Sales increased nearly 13%. .
The company said simplification is one of its priorities under its “2025 Strategy,” including through reducing “complexity across its manufacturing network.”
The 117,000-square-foot factory has been operated since the early 1980s by CR Bard Inc., which Becton Dickinson acquired in 2017. The deal comes just months after the catheter industry pioneer revealed plans to invest $16 million and add 50 jobs to Monks Corner. .
The factory itself has been around since the late 1960s.
The original 82,000-square-foot building was constructed by Aerobox, who machined aluminum for use in electronic components and audio equipment. He closed his Berkeley County store a few years later.
The next owner didn’t last long either. Sprague Electric, a supplier to the refrigeration industry, sold its factory in 1972 to a division of Nalco Scientific Industries, which manufactured disposable health care products.
Davol Corporation, which manufactured medical filters at Monks Corner, took over the site in 1977, three years before International Paper sold its subsidiary to CR Bard.
Shortly before being acquired by BD, the catheter manufacturer reported that the plant could produce 80,000 drainage devices daily. The company also said the manufacturing process at Monks Corner was “extremely tedious” and labor-intensive.
In 2017, CR Bard posted on its website that “they are dipped in multiple layers of latex to ensure quality and accuracy.”
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