Manufacturer of the Year (Large Company)

nLight Corporation, Vancouver

Compared to other companies, nLight is relatively young. It was formed in 2000. But it has been through multiple life cycles in that short span, adapting to changes in its industry. Originally founded to build laser-based devices for telecommunications, nLight survived by moving its products and technology into such applications as range finding and targeting for the military, processing flat-panel displays in Asia, marking consumer electronics in China and processing silicon wafers in Asia, Europe and the United States.
But it wasnt only finding the right markets for its products; it was also a matter of making those products better and more quickly. For its core product series, Pearl, nLight reduced the cycle time from 29 days to just four. Results of that agility and attention to detail: In 2011 alone, nLight added 54 jobs at its Vancouver headquarters and a plant in Hillsboro, Oregon, bringing its worldwide employment roster to 445. Revenues jumped to $46 million in 2010 from $38 million in 2009.
The company figures on still more improvement. Last October, it finished a $1.5 million expansion of its Vancouver manufacturing clean room. It also has a strong track record of community involvement. CEO Scott Keeney launched a nonprofit in 2005 to connect the companys engineers and physicists to high school teachers and students. Its now an independent known as nConnect.

SILVER AWARDS

CMC Biologics, Bothell

Washington has long dreamt of building a significant biotech presence, but it has long been lacking in the production end of the industry. CMC Biologics is looking to change that picture. Last year, it completed a $10 million expansion of its stainless steel biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility, hiring an additional 30 employees to run it. CMC plans another expansion in 2013 for two additional production lines.

It also added some major contracts to make use of that expanded capacity. Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals gave it an exclusive six-year deal to produce a drug for the prevention and treatment of bleeding in hemophilia patients, and Daiichi Sankyo signed a multiyear agreement for production of biologics.

The company has also been aggressive in improving operating efficiency, replacing printers, HVAC units and air compressors to cut energy consumption.

Philips, Bothell

With more than 2,000 employees in several divisions, the Dutch giant Philips Electronics is making the Northwest an important center for its health care and consumer products operations. Philips Ultrasound (the former ATL Ultrasound) is capitalizing on the worldwide surge in demand for imaging technology by introducing product lines like ClearVue.

Global health care cost pressure and ongoing technological developments are driving increased opportunities for ultrasound, says Conrad Smits, senior vice president of Philips Healthcare and general manager of Philips Ultrasound, in a release announcing ClearVue. There is growing global focus on cost effective systems, smaller footprints, easier operation with improved clinical functionality.

Meanwhile, Philips is leveraging its 2000 purchase of Optiva, maker of the Sonicare toothbrush, with new products and line extensions, including, in 2011, the Sonicare AirFloss and the Sonicare DiamondClean. Philips also makes automated external defibrillators in Seattle and sleep sensors in Mukilteo.