The point about LA and Llanberis was simple. From the start, Immulite was to be a cash cow and an entry point into labs that Siemens would convert to Centaur. The first thing Siemens did was to stop all future upgrades of Immulite and then started to adapt Immulite methods to Centaur. The plan was to close LA within a year or two after having transferred all aspects of production to Llanberis rather than letting LA continue to make specialty chemicals. For a number of reasons, this effort was allowed to fail and go on and on forever. Siemens has borne the cost of maintaining LA as well as the losses from not having a reliable transfer process in place. Those who have been around Tarrytown for a long time might remember what it took to transfer the Immuno 1 specialty chemicals, including the magnetic particles to Middletown. It's not an easy thing to do, but it can be done. Siemens just never did it right.
So no cash cow, no closing of LA according to plan, multiple kit withdrawals, etc. And the rest is, or will be, history.
↧