Becton Dickinson breaks ground on $60m Nebraska plant expansion

Becton Dickinson (NYSE:BDX) today broke ground on a $60 million, 69,000 square foot expansion of its Columbus, Nebraska facilities.

With the expansion, the plant will switch from manufacturing glass syringes to plastic components, according to an Omaha World-Herald report. The production of glass syringes will move to other company plants while the Nebraska-based facilities will see an equipment upgrade that make it an automated plastic molding facility.

The expansion will reduce the headcount at the 700-worker plant when it begins operation, slated for 2021, though employment in the state is expected to stay the same when including facilities in Holdredge and Broken Bow, according to the World-Herald report.

The expansion will enable Becton Dickinson to make parts in house to be used at its other facilities and for export to Europe and Mexico, cutting out the need for purchasing plastic parts from third party suppliers, according to the report.

“BD is one of the largest users of plastic injection molded products in the world, with hundreds of billions of units produced internally each year. The new facility will centralize a majority of BD’s North American plastic molding production and will support multiple business units in the U.S. and around the world,” BD chief supply chain officer James Borzi said in a press release.

“This is an exciting day for growing the community of Columbus and the State of Nebraska. BD’s $60 million expansion at their Columbus-East facility is another example of how the industry’s faith in our state can help create new opportunities in our communities. With facilities in Columbus, Holdrege, and Broken Bow, BD has been a great partner in growing the Good Life and we appreciate their ongoing investment in Nebraska,” Governor Pete Ricketts said in a prepared statement.

Earlier this month, Becton Dickinson secured anti trust approval in the European Union for its $24 billion acquisition of C.R. Bard (NYSE:BCR) after selling 2 subsidiaries to remove concerns over competition.

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