IDEXX Laboratories

Andrew Pelis learns how improved facilities, a focus on innovation and a booming market add up to a promising future for IDEXX LaboratoriesThe world of pet care is currently going through a boom period. At the cusp of pet care innovation, IDEXX Laboratories is now undertaking the renovation phase of a $75 million project to expand and update its flagship facilities in Westbrook, Maine.The need for expansion has been driven by the companyÔÇÖs success in adopting a blueprint formulated by Jonathan W. Ayers, the current CEO, to become a billion-dollar business globally.Brian Rand, engineering manager, works within the facilities group at the Westbrook site and has witnessed the changes and growth over the last six and a half years. ÔÇ£There was a very significant change after the arrival of Mr. Ayers. He put together a blueprint for achieving billion-dollar status over five years, and we managed to achieve this within three years.ÔÇ£The pet care market itself has changed over the past few years,ÔÇØ Rand continues. ÔÇ£There are people now who donÔÇÖt think twice about spending whatever it takes to look after their cat or dog. This aspect, combined with the approach the new CEO introduced and the teams and vision that he put together, has a lot to do with the success we are now enjoying.ÔÇØIDEXX has become a worldwide leader in innovative products and services for veterinary, food and water applications. The companyÔÇÖs companion animal group accounts for approximately 80 percent of turnover and is ably supported by its equine business, both of which combine biotechnology with medical devices and information technology to support veterinariansÔÇÖ efforts in providing excellent care while building successful practices. Additionally, the food and water businesses employ efficient technologies for livestock or poultry monitoring and ensuring the safety of public water and milk.The expansion and renovation of the Westbrook site aims to generate greater manufacturing efficiency while at the same time providing greater capacity for research and development. ÔÇ£Westbrook is our global headquarters and home to the majority of manufacturing, R&D and marketing. Our distribution center is located in Memphis and ships our products worldwide. Most of the current investment is for the expansion of our manufacturing and R&D here in Maine,ÔÇØ explains Rand.ÔÇ£The company was formed in Portland, Maine, in the mid-eighties, and in 1992 we moved into the existing building but only occupied a small portion. We continued to expand but felt that we still had a fairly inefficient layout, so one of the things this expansion will enable us to do is ÔÇÿlean outÔÇÖ the manufacturing process. A lot of thought has gone into the new layout to make it as lean as possible so that the product flows properly through the plant and the travel of product and people is reduced, which should result in significant efficiency improvements for the manufacturing process.ÔÇØAugust 2007 saw the first phase of the expansion project as part of the old building was torn down to make way for a 200,000-square-foot addition. This has not only served to benefit the manufacturing side of operations but has critically provided more space for the research and development aspect. ÔÇ£We were completely out of space,ÔÇØ states Rand. ÔÇ£We had continued to grow and hire people for our laboratories but had reached the point where we had too many people per bench; they needed to spread out. We urgently needed to create more lab space for our research teams.ÔÇØIDEXX has to meet some regulatory requirements from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). ÔÇ£We have to meet certain criteria in regards to how we release lots and send test data to the USDA, which has to be approved before going to market. We also have USDA inspections at different times of the year and have set up a Quality Control team integrated into our manufacturing processes,ÔÇØ says Rand.ÔÇ£However, weÔÇÖre not as regulated as, say, drug discovery companies, and we are certainly able to utilize lean manufacturing techniques, employing a group whose entire focus is on lean and six sigma. This has allowed us to improve our quality and reduce costs. Change is always a challenge, and we regard our efforts as continuous education and continuous improvement,ÔÇØ he explains. ÔÇ£The manufacturing process does not involve straight-line production; we run an assembly line for the diagnostic kits but also operate three press-feed automated lines for the diagnostic test kits. WeÔÇÖre adding a higher-speed fourth line and feeding into that are the re-agents or biologics, which require material testing and separating processes prior to assembly.ÔÇØMaintenance is another key area for RandÔÇÖs team, to help maintain quality levels. ÔÇ£Probably the most significant challenge is viral control, which is hugely critical for biotech-type manufacturing processes. This requires a lot of sophisticated automated building control. Our challenge is getting the right people with the right skill sets involved, to properly monitor our environments, minimize the amount of energy needed to maintain them and maximize equipment longevity.ÔÇØSo what next for a company that only formed less than a quarter century ago, has 60 locations worldwide and more than 4,500 employees, with over 1,500 based at headquarters? ÔÇ£The Westbrook expansion is intended to meet at least our next five years of growth, and as we continue down the lean process we anticipate achieving a lot more. The next challenge will be to create more administration space by consolidating our corporate and administration space.ÔÇØHaving constructed its new building in just 13 months, the renovation phase of the existing building is due for completion in 2010. ┬á