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The TPR is pleased to present a Case Study feature on APEC, which is based in Baldwin Park, CA. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, APEC designs, develops and manufactures medical device components requiring high precision and critical quality and specializes in mid to high volume thermoplastic, silicone (LIM), insert and two-shot molding. We interviewed Anura Welikala, president of APEC, to better understand how the company has achieved more than 30% growth in the last year and continues to expand with the opening of a new facility in China. What is your company niche, and what does your company do that is notable, unique or different?
Our employees make us unique. Those who started out with us in the first year are still with us today. For the first seven years APEC did not hire anyone with experience from inside the industry. Instead everyone we hired had a tremendous work ethic, were willing to be trained internally and continue their education in order to gain knowledge of the latest technologies.
Our customer base is small,
but made up of fortune 100 medical OEM companies and we have a true
partnership, which allows us to grow right along side of them. We like
to focus on their most intricate projects, asking them to send us their
most challenging part, and together we find the best solution for
manufacturability. When and how did you get into the industry, what attracted you to it? I apprenticed in plastics in Sri Lanka. At that time it was one of the fastest growing countries and offered extensive apprenticeship programs in plastics. It was unique in that we were studying the American quality systems. My quality consciousness came from my early training. So when I came to the U.S. in 1987 it became a very important part of my focus. I started with trash can molds while in Sri Lanka, but then moved on to a company that produced pressure transducers, intravenous catheters and other catheters for the medical industry. I have worked in the medical industry for 19 years, since I came to America. Ten years after arriving I started APEC with Wolfgang Buehler in 1997. Wolfgang owned Magor Mold and I met him in 1990 when I was a customer of his. I compared Magor to other mold makers I had worked with in the past and came to the conclusion that Magor was the company I wanted to be a part of and they had same quality consciousness. One day I mentioned to Wolfgang that I wanted to start a molding company and he said he was thinking the same thing, so APEC was founded as a test facility for Magor. We started with one customer, (who had a very difficult mold to test; it was for a housing that went on a kidney dialysis machine) and one machine, a 200-ton TOYO. By the end of the first year we had six machines in operation. The company started out as a 24/7 operation and we were profitable by Q2 of that first year. Since our inception we have grown into a $13.5M business in 2006.
Relate a notable "best time" for your company. The excitement started when we opened APEC in 1997 with one customer and one difficult mold to test (see above). Another great time was when we first got into silicone, which was over 6 years ago. That was the first silicone part we molded and also was one of the most difficult we have come across. Some said the component couldn’t be produced; however, we took on the challenge. We had some understanding of silicone, and have learned much more since then. Now we have become one of the most advanced silicone molding facilities, utilizing the best machinery such as the 2KM silicone delivery systems from Germany. Our growth over the last 10 years has been very exciting. We will celebrate our anniversary on March 28th. Opening the China facility this month in Shenzhen and being able to maintain a family culture and strong quality consciousness is also very exciting for us. The team we have at APEC is like a family. We spend time together outside the company doing such activities as river rafting trips, playing racquetball and paint balling. But that’s something that we value in this company because it benefits our customers as well. In fact, we often invite customers along on our trips; in addition, a customer that is based in Utah will bring racquetball equipment with him so he can join us for racquetball once we are finished with the day’s work.
Similarly, relate notable challenges that your company has overcome.
When you are
working on projects with your customers, what aspects would you like
them to APEC is so close to their customers that they see everything – the family atmosphere we have built and the level of engineering resources we put on every project would be one. And the true partnership would be another. When we receive a new project the first thing we do is take the device and ask how it is used. By understanding how it is used, it will give us a better understanding of how we can help our customers. When our employees see first hand how it is used, it touches their hearts and emotions tend to kick into gear. You look at the component in a different light and work on that component as something that can make a difference in someone’s life. I believe that makes us noticeably different from our competition.
There is a lot of competition in this region, but I believe that we are
ahead of the game. We have a very loyal group of employees. I don’t mean
loyal only to the company; I mean they are loyal to our customers. List newly acquired technology, machinery or key personnel (in last year). We recently purchased a 2KM state of the art silicone delivery system. This new 2KM system takes the silicone and pumps it into a chamber which then re-doses the silicone volume right at the feed throat, precisely controlling the amount that is molded with each shot. This system cost us a lot more, however, we know it benefits our customers. We are currently molding 40 million parts per year of one part configuration; however, that same part is ramping up to 200 million parts. We have hired three new employees this week and they will begin the training process and internship.
Has your company recently expanded? Plans to expand or form partnerships/alliances?
Are you involved in any industry organizations or educational programs related to the trade? We are members of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE). As far as educational programs go we do in-house training for all of our process technicians and I am the person who oversees this training. We have an intern now from Cal Poly Pomona, a local university. We have an apprenticeship program – In the last couple of years we have needed more and more top-level personnel and have hired some with a masters degree in polymer science as well as one with a PhD and others with advanced degrees. We are convinced that this is another area that makes us different and helps us better serve our customers. The better we understand their side of the business the faster we can get to market. APEC sends employees to RJG training courses (process control systems, cavity pressure sensing technology, and processing training for the injection molding industry). Fintech is another company we work with in addition to RJG for entire team training. The company also sends the top level staff – supervisor of molding and mold technicians – to Arburg in Germany for their annual Arburg Days “Arburg Training”.
Education and training is of utmost importance to our success. It ensures that all of our employees grasp the meaning and concept of scientific molding. We often ask our customers to join us in our formal training programs as they are part of our team, too, and it helps us to work together more effectively.
What do you think about changes occurring in the industry due to globalization? How has it affected the way you do business? We embrace the changes to a world marketplace. It has opened up other opportunities to us with our Shenzhen facility in China. We see enormous potential for growth in China. I believe the high end molders and mold makers will not experience problems due to globalization.
What will the industry look like in 3 to 5 years? In the U.S. the high end molders and mold makers will survive. Non-technical molding will leave the country; especially operations that are labor intensive. If you adopt the latest technologies you will increase your odds of survival. I believe that we will still lead the way for technology for years to come.
Additional Background Information:
Number of years in business: 10 Current number of employees: 125 Current square footage: 72,000 (Baldwin Park HQ); 35,000 (Shenzhen, China) Additional locations: Shenzhen, China Website: http://www.apecplastics.com
Types of tools built and/or run: Industries served: 99% medical Contact Information:
APEC Headquarters
APEC ASIA |
Our
Engineering Supervisor is also taking part in process training at the
facility of one of our Fortune 100 medical device customers in Utah.