Symmetry’s Sheffield U.K. Facility Damaged by Fire

Symmetry Medical Inc., a Warsaw, Ind.-based makes of surgical instruments, orthopedic implants, and sterilization cases and trays, confirmed today that a fire occurred at manufacturing plant in Sheffield, in the United Kingdom, on Friday, Sept. 13. Sheffield is approximately 170 miles north of London.

According to the company, the damage from the fire was confined to the acid shop, which was destroyed. No Symmetry employees or first responders were injured as a result of the fire.

No other operation at the Sheffield Plant was materially affected by the fire, including the machining centers, the forging equipment, the casting foundry, administrative functions, and data center. At this time, however, gas, electric, and water utilities serving the casting and forging areas of the plant have been discontinued until a safety evaluation is completed, officials reported, adding that the company hopes to have these restored throughout this week.

The acid shop functions in conjunction with the company’s forging operation at the Sheffield plant. After forging, parts are immersed in acidic baths to facilitate removal of material from the forging process.

“Upon learning of the fire and confirming that all Symmetry teammates and local residents were safe, we immediately deployed our business continuity plan to manage our response, containment, assessment, and short/long term recovery plan,” said Thomas J. Sullivan, president and CEO of Symmetry Medical in a statement. “We have teams on site to facilitate normal operations in the remainder of the Sheffield plant and plan to ensure as little disruption as possible for the remainder of our operations. I commend the efforts of our local Symmetry teammates in responding to the fire, along with thanks to the first responders from the Sheffield fire brigade whose outstanding work limited damage.”

Sullivan said the company had reached out to all of its customers of the Sheffield plant to inform them of the situation and any potential impact to their orders.

“We have begun efforts to identify replacement capacity for our acid shop functions through internal and external capacity, and expect Symmetry’s global manufacturing capabilities to help mitigate the impact of the fire,” he said. “I would to thank our customers for their support and collaboration during this effort.”

Approximately 250 people are are employed at the Sheffield plant, which accounts for approximately 30 percent of the company’s global implant manufacturing capacity. Symmetry is in the early stages of assessing the financial impact of fire and any insurance benefits to which the company may be entitled under its property and business interruption insurance policies. The company expects to provide an update on the potential impact to its third quarter 2013 financial results after further review of the situation.