A Medical Device Daily

The distributor of Prodigy blood glucose monitoring systems and the provider of audible blood glucose meters has reported plans to relocate its manufacturing operations from Southeast Asia to Charlotte, North Carolina.

"At a time when the economy is driving many U.S. companies to overseas production, we are taking a stand to reverse that trend and bring these jobs back to the United States," said Rick Admani Abulhaj, COO for Diagnostic Devices (Charlotte, North Carolina), the distributor of the Prodigy product line. "We are proving that domestic manufacturing can be less expensive than overseas production due to cutting-edge technologies, high-tech automation and significantly enhanced quality controls. Most importantly, this move creates jobs and wealth in our own backyards where we need it most."

During the next 18 months, the Prodigy brand will transfer manufacturing jobs from Southeast Asia to its 44,600-square-foot-manufacturing-and-distribution facility in Charlotte. The move will create more than 100 jobs for the Charlotte region that will consist primarily of high-tech, full-time positions, the company noted.

"No other businesses I know of are doing this," Abulhaj said. "By using innovation, automation and science, we've created a win-win. For years, our business model concentrated on low-tech medical devices that previously required a large-scale labor force to manufacture, and we had no choice but to move some operations to Southeast Asia to remain competitive. But now we are able to do the reverse. By utilizing science, technology and automation, we are bringing those jobs back to the U.S. while lowering our costs by 40%. This is an exciting time for our business, to provide jobs here in America and to the benefit of our community."

By relocating these jobs to the U.S., after 18 years of manufacturing experience in Southeast Asia, the company said it would have complete control of its intellectual property and oversight of quality control.

"We now will have complete control over our business and industry, while benefiting our community by creating jobs right here," Abulhaj said.