Made in the Suburbs: Medela LLC

An interview with Jeff Castillo, executive vice president of the Americas for Medela LLC

Q: Describe your company. What product(s) do you make and what are they used for?

A: Medela provides research-based breast pumps, breastfeeding supplies and clinically backed education and programs to help moms to continue to provide breast milk to their baby for as long as they choose.

For more than 60 years, Medela has supported breastfeeding families from its global headquarters in Baar, Switzerland. Our U.S. headquarters is in McHenry and supports North America, Mexico and South America. Our business offers products direct to consumers and for healthcare systems and hospitals, sharing the same core competence vacuum technology and developing and manufacturing innovative solutions for our customers.

• Mom and baby care: This includes breast pumps, breastfeeding accessories, breast care products and intimate apparel, supported by digital offerings and services.

• Professional care: We distinguish between products for maternity and neonatology and the product portfolio for negative pressure wound therapy, digital drainage and surgical suction.

• Maternity care and NICU: To understand lactation, breast milk composition, maternal needs and baby behavior, Medela collaborates with universities, hospitals and research institutes around the world. Through this, Medela develops advanced technologies for breastfeeding solutions, including pumping, storage, breast care, as well as products on the neonatal side.

• Wound and surgical: We leverage our core competency of medical vacuum to bring mobile, durable and quiet solutions in the areas of surgical and airway suctioning, digital chest drainage and negative pressure wound therapy. Our clinical data and customer experience show that these solutions make daily life easier for patients and healthcare professionals and have a positive impact on recovery and length of stay.

Q: Describe the process of making your products.

A: As a medical device company, our products go through rigorous development and testing to receive the FDA approval required to be released to the market. The Pump In Style and Hands-free Collection Cups, were both designed by our local group of passionate engineers who are also parents who understand that innovation needs to be practical, dependable and easy to use.

These products are also assembled in at our McHenry facilities and supported by our local, award-winning customer service team. To bring these products to market, our local team conducts hands-on testing for new mechanical and software features, working with moms from across the country to share their feedback.

We also optimize our products to be more sustainable. We are working with our partners to find ways to optimize shipping to reduce emissions, a priority for our sustainability initiatives. Our U.S. team reviewed the box for the Pump In Style and their recommendations resulted in a smaller box, which had a positive impact on CO2 emissions.

Additionally, our local team analyzed all packaging components, including instructions. By minimizing the size of the instruction manual, we were able to reduce waste. The impact of all packaging changes and improvements this year for this product has resulted in 30% reduction of packaging material waste and 51% reduction in CO2 emissions.

These steps help us to support our customers and also set us apart in the market.

Q: Do you plan to hire any additional staff or make any significant capital investments in your company in the next year?

A: We continue to evaluate renewable energy opportunities for our McHenry office, such as solar panels and EV-charging stations for our employees.

Q: Do you have enough space in your current facility or are you looking to expand/find a new facility?

A: We are comfortable with our main office in McHenry and additional warehouse space in Elgin. We continue to embrace a hybrid work environment, allowing many employees the chance to work remotely a few days each week.

Q: What will your company's main challenges be in the next year?

A: As we continue to navigate supply chain obstacles, rising costs of goods and transportation, our focus is on ensuring we provide continuous product support to our partners in the hospital supporting the NICU, where our most fragile patients need us most.

Q: What's the hottest trend in your industry?

A: In the Mom & Baby space, in-bra pumping is a big deal. We introduced our hands-free Collection Cups this year to much success - our design has received international and regional awards from industry, experts and parents around the world.

Trends can be fun, but they require intensive research and evaluation. For Medela, where research drives what we do, we need to make sure that any technology we introduce into our products only has only a positive effect on a mom's breast milk supply. This is why we rely on our customer feedback, and why we were named the most trusted breast pump brand in North America for the fifth consecutive year. (Voted most trusted breast pump brand by United States and Canadian shoppers based on the 2023 BrandSpark American and Canadian Trust Studies.)

Q: Do you have a business mantra?

A: Our company mission that guides everything we do. Together with key partners in health care, we turn science into care and advocate for the health and well-being of mothers, babies and patients. By advancing science and research and listening to our customers, we are able to develop innovative products, solutions and services for our customers to live their lives to the fullest and promote generational health.

Q: What is one interesting fact about your company that most people may not know?

A: The pronunciation of our organization is a question we are often asked. According to our leadership, the correct pronunciation is "meh-dee-luh."

Q: What are the benefits to you of making your product(s) here in the Chicago suburbs?

A: In our category, being designed and assembled in the USA is unique. We're committed to investing in our community while continuing to develop our expertise in medical technology, in partnership with local suppliers and distributors to support breastfeeding families across the Americas.

Additionally, when we recently surveyed our moms, we learned that one of their top three purchase drivers was having locally based customer support in the USA. This is something we're proud to provide our customers. From our McHenry location we're supporting millions of moms with products that help them meet their goals, as well as education and support when they need it most.

Q: If you could make any product other than what you do make, what would it be?

A: Our mission is to turn science into care to nurture health for generations. Great products are just the start. You need communities and support to ensure success. Things like Medela's innovation statement do just that. That is our commitment that all new products need to be better for the consumer and the environment. Through programs like Medela Cares, we give back to the communities that we serve. These are fundamental things that I would like to see all companies embrace.

Q: If you could pick someone famous to promote your product, who would it be?

A: Over the years, Medela products have been the pump chosen by athletes, designers, celebrities and more. We have partnered with women designers like Rebecca Minkoff and Sarah Wells Bags, and been excited to be chosen by celebrities like Katy Perry, Blake Lively, Halsey and Mandy Moore.

Our pumps have been seen in well-loved series like Workin' Moms (Netflix), Emily in Paris (Netflix), Superstore (NBC), and movies including Tully (2018), and so many more. From our point of view, moms, famous or not, are our most important influencer, and if she chooses Medela, we're honored to support her every step of the way.

• If you have a company that manufactures its product(s) in the suburbs, email us about it at sbnews@dailyherald.com.