The Brevard Technical Journal

Refocusing on the Future
Bradshaw Manufacturing Services delves into new ventures to expand beyond the impact printer business

by Anne Straub
Brevard Technical Journal

Bradshaw Manufacturing Services knows where it’s been and where it’s going. And they’re two different places.

The Palm Bay company has, at its core, the remnants of StorageTek’s former manufacturing arm at the plant. It had been part of that company’s struggling high-speed impact printer business until a Texas investor bought the Palm Bay location from StorageTek in 1996.

The plant still makes printer parts for StorageTek and other manufacturers. But making parts for the impact printer industry in a world of laser and ink-jet printers could be a modern version of a buggy-whip manufacturer. Profits are good for now, but demand is declining.

“That’s where we were, and that’s not our future,” said David Hoover, general manager.

He and his wife, Sarah, human resources manager, joined the company two and a half years ago. New owner Stan Bradshaw, whose company sells and services printers, charged them with transitioning the plant into a contract manufacturer.

Contract manufacturers take on pieces of jobs from other manufacturers who choose to outsource part, or even most, of the production of their wares. Motorola mobile handsets, for example, bear the company’s name even though they’re made by a contract manufacturer.

The option has become increasingly popular over the past 10 or 15 years, said Bill Canis, executive director of the Manufacturing Institute for the National Association of Manufacturers. The practice was pioneered by the U.S. auto industry and has become commonplace. “We see this across the board,” Canis said.

“Companies aren’t necessarily good at making everything,” Canis said. Contract manufacturing allows them to focus on their strengths – such as making another part, marketing, or assembly – and keep their costs down by outsourcing work to a company that can do it cheaper and better.

“This is one way companies can keep plants here (in the United States) and keep costs down,” he said.

One of the first orders of business for Bradshaw has been to get the company’s name out.

“Nobody knew what Bradshaw was. Everybody associated us with printers,” said David Hoover, who was recruited from a Michigan contract manufacturer that served the automotive industry. Bradshaw offers three main categories of services:

• Plastic injection molding. Bradshaw can make the metal dies and mold the plastic in one of its six presses. One such product is the housing for a surge suppressor designed and marketed by another local company.

• Chemical milling. The technology used to make StorageTek print bands also can be used for other products. For example, Bradshaw uses the inexpensive, quick and precise process to make tiny blades used in eye surgery.

• Assembly, testing and packaging of a product.

Bradshaw also has clean room capabilities. David Hoover touts the company’s ability to respond quickly, keep costs down, maintain accuracy and offer value-added services.

Next, the company needed a change in focus. In its first attempts to snag contract manufacturing jobs, Bradshaw had delved into the telecommunications industry. David Hoover saw a rocky road ahead for that business, and instead turned Bradshaw toward the medical devices industry.

That could be a lucrative decision. Medical devices typically carry a higher average selling price, said Rich Perse, vice president of Phoenix Components in Melbourne. The manufacturers’ representative has been working to win business for Bradshaw for about nine months.

“If I sell the same piece of plastic to a manufacturer of garden rakes, he’s not going to pay the same price as a guy making something that saves your life,” Perse said. Bradshaw carries ISO 9002 and medical ISO 13488 certifications, the latter designation being particularly helpful in winning business, he said.

Bradshaw has increased its focus on plastics, which bodes well for its success in medical devices, Perse said. Plastics are widely used in the medical community, and they tend to be disposable. So once a product is accepted for routine use, a manufacturer can expect a steady stream of large orders.

The company already has a job that might fit that bill. Bradshaw makes precision magnetic valves for a medical device used in bladder management. The product, made by an Orlando company, won the Florida Governor’s Award for best new product, as well as an honor from the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation.

“For a small company in Orlando, Fla., to win that award on the first submission was incredible,” UroSolutions chairman Ed Maull said of the AAMI award.

UroSolutions looked all over the United States for a manufacturer and was happy to find what they needed so nearby at Bradshaw. “They helped us enormously to improve the product … and hone the manufacturing techniques to save money,” Maull said. “They walked us right through the whole thing.”

Bradshaw improved on UroSolutions’ design by incorporating a urine sampling port, which the prototype had external to the valve, into the mold. “We would have had no idea how to do that,” Maull said.

The company’s product helps an indwelling catheter mimic the body’s natural function more closely. That reduces the chance of urinary tract infections, a common occurrence in people with catheters and a big headache for hospitals.

UroSolutions started marketing the product two years ago and has made sales in 42 states and generated interest in 68 countries. The company expects sales to take off, and that’s one reason it chose Bradshaw as a contract manufacturer. The company can ramp up quickly, Maull said.

Bradshaw is using only about 20 percent of its 88,000-square-foot facility, giving it plenty of space to devote to a product that suddenly booms. The company now employs 51 people and expects to hire more. Bradshaw sales were flat this year but are forecast to rise 25 percent next year, in part because of the expected success of the medical device as well as other potential jobs.

Some new hires probably will be made through the Brevard Achievement Center, an organization that helps people with disabilities increase their vocational and social independence. Bradshaw already employs five people referred by the center, including the Hoovers’ son, Richie.

“One day it clicked – Richie could do the testing,” recalled Sarah Hoover. The company invested in ramps and remote-controlled doors to accommodate the workers, and the effort has paid off. “They do a good job and they’re here every day,” she said.

Their experience with their son provides a corporate philosophy that knits them to the community. “You understand giving back,” David Hoover said.

On the Web: www.bradshawmfg.com.