Tijuana’s Medical Manufacturing Boom: Brentwood Industries Expands Medical Thermoforming and Plastic Injection Molding to Tijuana

Brentwood Industries, Inc. is expanded operations to Tijuana, Mexico with a new manufacturing clean room facility early 2018 under CPI's México Manufacturing Shelter.

New Facility Serves Contract Manufacturing Needs in Central America and the Western United States

The new facility just south of San Diego, California, represents Brentwood’s first strategic international manufacturing expansion site in Latin America. Brentwood has leased a 35,000-square foot clean room facility in the modern Thomas Alva Edison Industrial Park and is expected to invest $3.5 million dollars in the build out. The Reading, Pennsylvania-based medical packaging and thermoplastic molding company has had its sights on the medical manufacturing hub of Tijuana for quite some time.

"Tijuana’s continued development as a major medical manufacturing hub has placed it on our radar since 2014," says Walter Banta, Brentwood’s Senior Director of Market Development and project manager for the Tijuana expansion. Banta is also one of the managing directors of Brentwood’s Specialty Products Group, under which the new Tijuana facility will fall.  By expanding to Tijuana, Brentwood’s international expansion model aims to deliver value to current and potential customers in their local geographies. This new site will also provide a critical capability: operational redundancy. Brentwood is confident that adding a new ISO Class 7 clean room environment will offer medical OEMs the security and flexibility required for critical projects.

Brentwood has many existing medical customers in Tijuana. By opening a manufacturing site in close proximity to our existing customer base, we can better serve them by offering faster order turnaround times, reduced freight costs and strategic inventory control options,

said Banta. Brentwood joins over 44 medical device manufacturing companies already in Tijuana, with over 79 companies for the entire state of Baja California. Brentwood’s Tijuana team will be a true extension of their headquarters in Reading, Pennsylvania, where they will undergo months of training while the new facility build-out is completed. Once production starts south of the border, the Tijuana team will have full access to all resources in Reading.

International mainstays such as Care Fusion, Medtronic, DJO International and Greatbatch Medical, amongst others, are a draw for other US and international manufacturing companies looking to get closer to their existing customer base.

Brentwood is certainly looking for new medical customers in Tijuana. We develop strategic supplier partnerships with medical customers of all sizes and specialties. We expect and are planning for an unending stream of new product industrialization within our site,

said Banta. Brentwood explains that it’s the breadth of their product portfolio that has enabled their geographical expansion. Though their Tijuana facility will focus on thermoformed medial packaging, they also have product applications for industrial batteries, cooling towers, stormwater management, transportation, and water and wastewater. To serve customers in all these markets Brentwood already maintains seven US facilities from coast to coast and three international operations located in Thailand, the Czech Republic, and India.

This expansion is exciting for Brentwood and for existing Tijuana medical manufacturers,” says Veronica Contreras, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Co-Production International, adding, “Brentwood will provide thermoforming services to its existing clients in Tijuana with the ability to provide immediate customer service and continue to be an integral part of their customer’s supply chain needs.

Co-Production International (CPI) is a México shelter company and administrative services provider who helps manufacturers expand operations in México and has partnered with Brentwood for their new Tijuana facility.

[CPI] has been true partners throughout the discovery process, offering extremely valuable insights and support. As we move into the construction and business execution phase, their local presence and expertise has allowed us to move both rapidly and comfortably. Brentwood is a family-owned, family-operated business. Aligning with CPI as another family-owned business provides us with peace-of-mind regarding shared understanding of business drivers and goals,” remarked Banta. Brentwood will operate under CPI’s shelter program in addition to collaborative project management support during construction and start up activities. “Brentwood would certainly recommend CPI to other companies, said Banta.