Nypro to shed former Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics jobs

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Nypro Inc., a Jabil Inc. company, will complete the phase-out of dozens of former Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics jobs here by Nov. 1, a state Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed last week shows.

Some 53 jobs will be affected by the company’s “changing business needs,” the filing shows. The estimated date of the first separation is between Aug. 1 and Aug. 18, with terminations expected to continue through Nov. 1 as the company winds down activities at its Canal Ponds location.

“As previously announced in 2015, the phase-out of the positions in Rochester are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2018,” Nypro Human Resources Manager Lisa Dwyer said in an emailed statement. “Departing employees will be provided with a severance package, as well as outplacement services and additional benefits provided by Trade Adjustment Assistance.”

Once a unit of Eastman Kodak Co. turning out Kodak-brand blood analyzers, OCD ownership has changed hands a few times since its inception in the 1980s. Kodak sold the unit to Johnson & Johnson in 1994.

In 2014, Johnson & Johnson sold OCD to the Carlyle Group L.P. for $4 billion. In a 2015 memo from OCD leaders to affected staff, it was announced that the company would undertake several initiatives to increase its operational performance. At the time, the company had roughly 1,000 staffers in Rochester.

“We have made the decision to contract with Nypro Healthcare, a company with a 40-year history of expertise in global contract manufacturing of quality medical instruments, to manage our equipment manufacturing,” the memo read. “OCD is one of the few diagnostics companies that still manufactures its own equipment. Through our agreement with Nypro Healthcare, OCD will gain access to the specialized capabilities, size and scale needed to drive competitive manufacturing processes, allowing us to continue our commitment to improving product quality.

“By engaging Nypro Healthcare, we will be able to redeploy our resources and investments to our core areas in order to drive growth,” the memo read.

Staffers were told that effective the end of July 2015, affected OCD equipment manufacturing employees will become employees of Nypro Healthcare, although local operations are still referred to as “Ortho-Clinical.”

“Over a defined period of time, Nypro Healthcare will transfer operations from OCD in Rochester, New York, to the Nypro Healthcare facilities in Baja, Mexico,” the memo read. “Rochester has been part of our legacy in bringing innovative products to our customers and the location will continue to be an important part of our company as we move forward. Our future plans in Rochester include establishing centers of excellence for research and development and investing in slide manufacturing, customer service and other shared services, all of which are key to our growth plans.”

It was unclear whether those investment plans materialized, and late last year, Carlyle, a private-equity firm based in Washington, D.C., began looking for a buyer for the Raritan, N.J.-based OCD, Reuters reported.

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