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premium appliances manufactured in the US. In December 2008, at the height of the mortgage crisis and subsequent recession, I bought the family out and became President,” Matt elaborates.
On taking over as President, Matt sought to differentiate Thogus by integrating significant automation and technology into the production process, repositioning the business as an engineering company, thus creating greater value for customers. In January of 2009, Matt bought two Stratasys 3D printers for the purpose of reducing his customers new product development cycles by printing their new parts to ensure proper design for manufacturing. He realized that the newly acquired 3D printers could also serve as production machines but needed to be repeatable. From this idea, Matt started an additive manufacturing company, Rapid Prototype and Manufacturing
( rp + m) in 2009. The focus was on additive manufacturing production for low volume applications, material development, part design and automation.
The founding of rp + m continued to be a new source of innovation. One particular opportunity arose from an rp + m client who was developing a medical device for foot surgery. The newly formed rp + m team met with this client and quickly realized the opportunities in the medical device industry. This first touch meeting rapidly turned into an acquisition opportunity with potential to fuel Matt’ s ambition for work in the medical device industry. By bringing biomedical engineering and regulatory and quality expertise inhouse, rp + m and Thogus gained the ability to ensure their processes and procedures meet FDA requirements while also gaining the ability to design medical device products meeting Class I & II standards. In 2012, JALEX Medical was born.
In 2019, Thogus further expanded its manufacturing capabilities by acquiring Proto Plastics Inc( PPI) a plastic injection molding company based in Tipp City, Ohio. PPI specializes in smaller volume, more complex assemblies and serves different clients from Thogus, with the goal of growing with each company’ s existing clients and adding new. The acquisition of Proto Plastics functions as both a complement and a redundancy by allowing customers to consolidate their supply chain within a single overarching group while benefiting from the combined expertise of its member companies.
However, delivering that synergistic solution to customers requires more than the right company structure; it demands the right technology. Ever since joining Thogus, Matt has been dedicated to staying ahead of the curve when it comes to technology in order to bolster the production process.“ We are always looking at technologies already proven within the industry and finding ways to integrate them into the tool, machine or
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