Arthrex on establishing Anderson operations

Arthrex Inc., a global orthopedic medical device company headquartered in Naples, Fla., recently established new manufacturing operations in Anderson County. The company invested $69 million in a new facility and anticipates 1,000 new jobs will be created in the next several years.

As part of our #TeamUpstate storytelling, we chatted with Melanie McLane, HR Manager, about Arthrex’s culture, career opportunities, and the company’s experience with the Upstate workforce.

Who is Arthrex?

Arthrex Inc., headquartered in Naples, FL, is a global leader in orthopedic surgical device design, research, manufacturing and medical education. Arthrex develops and releases more than 2,000 new products and procedures every year to advance minimally invasive orthopedics worldwide.

At Arthrex, we put people first. Our products and techniques help patients get back to what they love doing. From product development to manufacturing and every department in between, everyone plays a role in Making People Better. It’s fulfilling work that matters. Our employees are like family who enjoy working in a positive workplace with great teamwork and exceptional benefits. As part of the Arthrex team, employees have the opportunity to be at the forefront of the orthopedic medical device industry, achieving our mission of Helping Surgeons Treat Their Patients Better™.

We’re proud to be consistently recognized by Great Place to Work® and Fortune as one of the nation’s best workplaces for manufacturing and production, among other honors. Employees thrive at Arthrex thanks to a highly collaborative work environment and a culture that values input from everyone on the team. It’s an extraordinary culture with exceptional benefits.

How is manufacturing at a life science company like Arthrex different from other industries? And what does that mean for employees?

Working in life sciences, and specifically medical device, is different when compared to other industries. Specifically, when you consider cleanliness of the facility, heightened testing for biological safety, and rigor in good documentation practices.

In the Upstate, the workforce is full of folks with experience in automotive or textile and even aerospace to some extent. However, what I have come to learn is that it is less about the differences and more about the similarities: We are all concerned about quality, and in our case, that means patient outcomes. We are all concerned about safety, both the safety of our employees, and the safety of our consumers. We are all concerned about traceability of our products in the market.

We have chosen to focus on the similarities, and we have found that the workforce has connected those dots and adapted quickly.

What type of career opportunities will be available at Arthrex?

What I have found unique about Arthrex is the breadth of opportunities.

Yes, we are manufacturing here in the Upstate, but Arthrex has a wide range of career opportunities within manufacturing and supporting manufacturing.

The large majority of our professional positions are related to Manufacturing Engineering, Quality and Operations Management.

Our highly skilled operators consist of CNC Machinists, Finishing and Cleaning Technicians, Suture Assembly and Packaging teams.

These are all supported by a full Culinary and medical center staff that are also part of the Arthrex family. Interested candidates can apply at https://careers.arthrex.com

Arthrex has made a name for itself in the community by establishing education partnerships even before its facility was opened. Can you tell us about those?

The truth is, we are just plugging into the already well-established programs in the Upstate. It is clear that the Upstate of SC has been focused on understanding the needs of business and industry in the area. With those well-defined programs already established and available, partnering with Tri-County Technical College, readySC and the surrounding Career Centers is rewarding and creates sustainable workforce development opportunities.

We have also partnered with Clemson University to create a unique two-year Surgical Device Technology Consultant Program that provides students foundational knowledge and interactive experiences of the growing surgical device industry. This is an exciting new program for both Arthrex and the students of Clemson University.

In addition to the Technology Consultant Program, we have several interns from Clemson University as well as Anderson University and offer scholarships to 10 Clemson students and three Tri-County Technical College students.