Blickman Video Transcript

Back to Medical Device Manufacturing in Mexico

Blickman, now in its third century of operation, is an American firm whose story begins with company namesake Sophia Blickman manufacturing pots in a garage and whose brand today represents stellar quality stainless steel products in hospitals worldwide.

The company, based in Clifton, New Jersey, has been manufacturing in Mexico in Saltillo since October, 2007. It started with five employees and now has six times that number.  The facility represents the company’s foray into foreign manufacturing and it has been a uniformly successful one.

Blickman, which is family-owned, produces the gamut of sturdy stainless steel hospital products including temperature-controlled warming cabinets, case carts, cabinets and consoles, I.V. poles, back tables, mayo stands, hampers and other operating room products

The Saltillo facility is what the company considers a “make-to-stock” facility from which goods are shipped to a Houston distribution center. A 50,000 square-foot facility in Clifton, New Jersey, continues to perform “make-to-order” and stainless steel custom fabrication.

The plant opened with just three employees: one plant manager and two engineers Today, 33 workers perform sheet metal operations including punching, forming welding, spot welding, polishing, assembly, bending and electrical assembly, The Saltillo facility currently produces for itself only and does not perform outside contract work.

Prior to selecting The Offshore Group’s La Angostura Industrial Park in Saltillo as its Mexican facility location, Blickman looked throughout the United States and Mexico. After examining border cities such as Tijuana and Ciudád Juárez, it chose Saltillo because of the proximity to educational centers, a talented workforce and the certainty that turnover would be less in Mexico’s interior than on the border.

The company holds an online production meeting every Wednesday bringing together its New Jersey, Houston and Saltillo supervisors. Blickman has not compromised quality or service with its addition of a Mexican plant, its leadership says. Accordingly, the company translates its logo verbatim in Mexico from “Our reputation is stainless” to ““Nuestra reputación es inoxidable.”

The company’s production has found its way into orbit. A Blickman Biological Safety Cabinet accompanied astronaut Neil Armstrong on the Apollo 11 flight and stored moon rocks en route back to earth. As a result, Blickman was recognized with one of NASA’s coveted, “Silver Snoopy” awards for “outstanding dedication, professionalism and excellent performance in support of the First United States Manned Lunar Landing Project.”

In addition to its stainless steel lines, Blickman offers a full line of chrome products for facilities with tighter budgets or less-demanding needs. Chrome often is the dependable value-alternative for physician offices, ambulatory surgery centers and nursing homes.