The Czech Republic’s strategic position between east and west, combined with its well-established excellence in the healthcare sector, highly skilled labour and overall cost-effectiveness, made it the smart choice for the company to launch its CEE operations. And with its proven track record of delivering custom-built business property solutions to support high-tech and precision manufacturing, CTP was the company’s natural business partner.

Tailored Facilities and Product Line Diversity

After considering other options within the CTPark Network, Smiths Medical chose to locate its CEE production base at CTPark Hranice, in northern Moravia near the university cities of Olomouc, Ostrava and Brno. The location benefits from its combination of lower operating costs, direct motorway access and close proximity to skilled labour, local suppliers and other CEE markets. To support the production of Smiths Medical’s precision medical equipment, CTP delivered a custombuilt, 10,000 m2 production hall equipped with specialised clean rooms, high-tech climate-control and other building management systems, and the installation of sophisticated automated assembly lines —all to the company’s exacting specifications.

Handover took place less than five months after ground-break, and Smiths Medical has wasted no time ramping up output following launch in H2 2013. The company already employs around 250 people at CTPark Hranice, and output from the new plant represents a broad range of Smiths Medical’s product line used for a range of healthcare applications including assisted reproduction, drainage systems, infusion systems, interventional imaging, pain management, pressure monitoring, respiratory, sharp-utensil safety, tracheostomy and ventilation. In line with company plans, output from the new plant at CTPark Hranice already accounts for one-third of Smiths Medical’s sales in the EMEA region, and this is set to increase as the company brings more production lines on-line at CTPark Hranice in the next three years.