I work for a major medical products company and Ive got some bad news

I'm guessing a bone scanner or a cyberknife or something similar.

Probably not related to Ebola but I went to the pharmacy the other day to pick up my cancer prescription and they only had 5 pills and said I would have to come back in a few days when their shipment came in - so certainly seems like some shortages around.

Greetings. Firstly, I have an account here. I'm normally too lazy to log in though. Now,

Several months ago when I started working for my current company, we had a meeting for the entire building stating progress in development goals over the last year. At this meeting, I learned that the division of the company I work for was expecting their largest expansion in new leads and sales to be mostly in the developing world. By 2018 the idea was that these markets were actually going to outpace the developed world in profitability just due to population growth. We were told that we would be working a lot of overtime in production. To be specific, everyone, every department, every week, for the next 6 months and probably longer. We were already on backorder by several hundred units for every different type we make. We were bringing in 20 temps a week, filling empty seats like crazy, and hiring to full-time like it was 2005.

Fast forward to september when the Ebola crisis started getting worse, 3 months after said meeting. Suddenly overtime stopped. Over the last few weeks we enacted a hiring freeze, dropped an entire staffing agency's worth of temporary employees, and the icing on the cake came yesterday afternoon when I got into work and saw everyone sitting and doing NOTHING. When I asked what was going on I was told that due to a paperwork error, we cannot continue to build our products as they are non compliant with regulations from the US government and it was all the fault of an obscure engineer nobody could recall ever working in the building. They don't know how long we will not be producing, and they've stopped shipping all product. 70% of our business was being generated in Africa this year, and this was projected to hold for quite some time.

After a bit me and a few good men from the floor went out to smoke and realized how nonsensical it was that we stopped shipping everywhere because our products had paperwork tie ups in a country where we only generate 9% of our sales revenue for our division. We don't just make any medical products where I work. We make really expensive, complicated ones, so much so that we're the only assembly plant for them that the corporation I work for has in the country, and only 1 of 4 worldwide. We're also the leader in the field.

Sales numbers haven't been reported for last month, and there not being updated this month, and we build to order for 90% of our business, with very little surplus in the stock room. It didn't take a genius to figure out what's happening after I checked that.

Due to the the sheer fact that I work in a very specialized field, I can't tell you guys what it is we make, but I can tell you if nobody is buying them anymore, which is what is happening, and it's happening this fast, then that means the medical world at large just gave up on diagnosing and treating anything but pathogen based illnesses. It also means they don't forsee the population continuing to expand at the rapid rate it has been either. No need to upgrade or expand inventory of my products in hospitals if people aren't multiplying or living to get cancer.

In other words, doom is on. And the financial effects we're about to see from the various pandemics kicking up are going to become ghastly appparent in the coming days and weeks before we all die bloody red deaths this winter.

Consider this yet another warning for all you guys who don't understand that the end is really here. /end rant

This country was infiltrated by communist pigs and completely destroyed!

Thanks OP...help me understand this....you say that you had to stop because the product didn't comply with us gov standards...yet you are shipping them to Africa....does that mean African customers adhere to same qc standards as USA.....just asking...


Also I know you make complex devices...but what about simple medical devices that hospitals always need to order, blood bags, gloves, masks, etc is there a large backlog of orders for these items....is there a shortage of these items? Can you comment on this?

Greetings. Firstly, I have an account here. I'm normally too lazy to log in though. Now,

Several months ago when I started working for my current company, we had a meeting for the entire building stating progress in development goals over the last year. At this meeting, I learned that the division of the company I work for was expecting their largest expansion in new leads and sales to be mostly in the developing world. By 2018 the idea was that these markets were actually going to outpace the developed world in profitability just due to population growth. We were told that we would be working a lot of overtime in production. To be specific, everyone, every department, every week, for the next 6 months and probably longer. We were already on backorder by several hundred units for every different type we make. We were bringing in 20 temps a week, filling empty seats like crazy, and hiring to full-time like it was 2005.

Fast forward to september when the Ebola crisis started getting worse, 3 months after said meeting. Suddenly overtime stopped. Over the last few weeks we enacted a hiring freeze, dropped an entire staffing agency's worth of temporary employees, and the icing on the cake came yesterday afternoon when I got into work and saw everyone sitting and doing NOTHING. When I asked what was going on I was told that due to a paperwork error, we cannot continue to build our products as they are non compliant with regulations from the US government and it was all the fault of an obscure engineer nobody could recall ever working in the building. They don't know how long we will not be producing, and they've stopped shipping all product. 70% of our business was being generated in Africa this year, and this was projected to hold for quite some time.

After a bit me and a few good men from the floor went out to smoke and realized how nonsensical it was that we stopped shipping everywhere because our products had paperwork tie ups in a country where we only generate 9% of our sales revenue for our division. We don't just make any medical products where I work. We make really expensive, complicated ones, so much so that we're the only assembly plant for them that the corporation I work for has in the country, and only 1 of 4 worldwide. We're also the leader in the field.

Sales numbers haven't been reported for last month, and there not being updated this month, and we build to order for 90% of our business, with very little surplus in the stock room. It didn't take a genius to figure out what's happening after I checked that.

Due to the the sheer fact that I work in a very specialized field, I can't tell you guys what it is we make, but I can tell you if nobody is buying them anymore, which is what is happening, and it's happening this fast, then that means the medical world at large just gave up on diagnosing and treating anything but pathogen based illnesses. It also means they don't forsee the population continuing to expand at the rapid rate it has been either. No need to upgrade or expand inventory of my products in hospitals if people aren't multiplying or living to get cancer.

In other words, doom is on. And the financial effects we're about to see from the various pandemics kicking up are going to become ghastly appparent in the coming days and weeks before we all die bloody red deaths this winter.

Consider this yet another warning for all you guys who don't understand that the end is really here. /end rant

OP - maybe your company is about to get bought out or is setting up shop overseas where labor is cheaper...

Perhaps they just haven't told the employees.

There are not that many medical device manufacturers out there... digging through my contact list: Phillips and Integra have plants in PA.

I say he works for Phillips.

China India Russia S. America

The slow down at this medical plant in PA, probably due to competition on the market and slow sales.

The unemployment rate has gone up recently in PA. Hopefully when Corbin gets voted out things will change...

How are sales/projections in the US, Canada, etc? How about South & Central America?

It seems like you're company (or higher ups somewhere) have assumed that Africa is a lost cause...maybe your companies sales projections could hint that other areas are going to be "let go" as well...The economy and it's "projections" may not be off target with this...

As the director of a medical device company myself, I can tell you that with audits, temporary hold ups can happen quite fast if the FDA finds you non-compliant in any area, though for a class I, production doesn't usually stop. I'm assuming you're a class I medical device manufacturer based on your vague descriptions of the product.

And I'm curious as to how you equate this with the end. Our devices are still selling.

ETA: So the paperwork was for the US government or the government of a different country. Can you clarify?

yes. senator joe McCarthy was right.

yes. senator joe McCarthy was right.

which is why the same element is still busy pretending that he wasn't proven to be right on every point.
It's funny that 'McCarthyism' is being used to describe falsehoods instead of the truths it was proven to be.
There is a war declared against independence of all others and it will not stop because it's a founding reason for existence.

Firstly, Only a SHILL would type out 6 & 1/2 paragraphs that have exactly ZERO news in any of them.

I Bet you work for one of the baxter divisions...