J-Pac Medical boss talks company plans

Jeff Barrett recently took up the reins as CEO at J-Pac Medical last year. He outlines his plans for the medical device and diagnostic company

MPN: What plans do you have for J-Pac’s growth strategy this year?

JB: J-Pac Medical has been well known for its capabilities in sterile packaging for many years. Our plans are to raise market awareness for the company’s other significant capabilities. J-Pac has extensive expertise and experience in manufacturing Class III implantable textile devices that require precision forming and particulate-free cutting. J-Pac has been a pioneer in enabling point-of-care diagnostics through its lab-on-chip reagent blister technology that utilise frangible seals. The company also both manufactures and packages finished sterile devices, including dry-room processing of environmentally sensitive medical products. In all these markets, J-Pac brings a compelling value proposition based on technical competence, execution and value.

MPN: In what way will your previous experience be put to use in your new role?

JB: I have more than 25 years of experience building high-growth medical product-based companies like GI Supply, Optim, Haemonetics and Aspect Medical Systems, which was acquired by Covidien. I understand the challenges of leading a company in today’s healthcare space and know how to implement successful growth strategies while driving operational excellence. Today’s medical device market is all about value. OEMs need to deliver products that provide proven patient value – both clinically and economically. This requires that supply chain partners such as J-Pac mirror those attributes by producing the highest quality products, on-time, and at a price that enables both parties to be successful.

I think J-Pac Medical is ripe for growth and brings a lot to the table in terms of what it can do for its customers. My collective experience will serve me well in managing a high performance management team; developing and implementing optimised operating infrastructure and manufacturing processes; and improving existing product pipelines and growing new ones for J-Pac.

MPN: What new initiatives do you have planned for 2016?

JB: We are heavily investing in adding more medical device capabilities and expanding our existing manufacturing services for devices used in orthopaedics/spine, sports medicine, and cardiovascular procedures. We also plan to have a significant announcement later this year for a new and potentially ground-breaking implant.

Additionally, we are touting J-Pac’s dry room processing capabilities for the packaging of environmentally-sensitive healthcare products. J-Pac’s dry room capabilities feature low humidity processing in Class 7 cleanrooms with options for both low and high volume applications.

2016 will also bring significant changes in our manufacturing systems as we continue improving efficiency, quality, and on-time delivery.

MPN: Where do you see the company this time next year?

JB: We want people to see J-Pac Medical as the go-to value added contract partner not just for their medical packaging but for virtually all of their outsourced needs. Whether they need support with implantable textiles, lab-on-chip reagents, thermoformed packaging or medical devices, we have the capabilities and expertise to support innovation from the inception of an idea through the product development all the way through the phases of the supply chain.

We hope more medical device companies and OEMs know our name and recognise the value of what we can do for them.