beckman should add GE to their portfolio also

anybody have a guess when olympus instruments will take over beckman instruments and boot everyone out of brea.

ww11, yeah thats about when development of the DXc and DXi's stopped

Like the Zeros in WWII....

old fasioned out dated unreliable kit vs modern powerful reliable well engineered machines, the Japs were always going to win

Dear Olympus employees. Let me tell you how this will play out...

++++

WOW! You described the current Beckman Coulter perfectly.

One would hope that since Beckman's MO is now clearly apparent and that ex-Olympus employees clearly have more moxy and better attorneys than ex-Beckman employees, that someone will finally put a legal punishment in place for Beckman's past practices.

Dear Olympus employees. Let me tell you how this will play out. While you all venture nervously through your "Denial stage", in 5 years or sooner > 75% of the names involved in Olympus departmental Management will be unrecognizable to you and will be, undoubtedly Beckman Crony’s or protégés of SG and other Beckman’s original few. If you are 45 or older, a veteran of Olympus with inherited health benefits after what you were looking forward to as part of your retirement. A cutoff date for those benefits will established by Beckman. Those qualifying as either or both and are earning large salaries due to one’s dedication and service with Olympus, are quite frankly, too expensive for Beckman to keep regardless of knowledge. In other words after what appears to be of "Fair and balanced peer review" which Beckman will call something fancy to keep you excited about the integration, you will soon be history. After 10 years or less you will not be able to recognize >98% of the original Olympus Management. Current Olympus Customers will decline and flee when they discover how Beckman destroyed Coulters exemplary “Customer Service” record. Customers are not King or #1 anymore the stock holders are. Same day or next day service is now a thing of the past. Larger laboratories (eg. Quest, LabCorp, etc.) that bring in the big bucks will always get priority over smaller labs regardless of what their service contract might promise. Olympus as you once new it is sliding into the abyss. So who will be the 2% that survive the assimilation? They will be those that build extraordinary relationships with Beckman Management (Learn how to play Golf for starters) Those that “tow the line” with a great attitude not just a good one, those who will stoop to being “yes men and women”. Those that execute their “@ss kissing” clandestinely. However, in some cases those that show extraordinary skill and proficiency remain employed with Beckman, but luck also plays into the equation without a doubt. Well, there you have it, a glimpse into your future and the secret of what will actually happen to Olympus and how to survive a “Beckman Takeover”. Trust none of the dirtbags at Beckman. Even Your boss and colleagues will sell you out to save his or her own skin as departments managers are given quotas for layoffs to fulfill. Also, believe me when I tell you that I have only really scratched the surface. The race called the “Borg” comes to mind. Good luck and Happy New Year Olympus employees, you’re going to need it... PS. I Know! I can be really cheery.

The 58 mentioned a couple weeks ago came from Brea / Fullerton hardware and software development, approximately 60%. The EE's were sparred due to RoHS upgrades and obsolescence... for now. A total of a little over 200, including the 58, were given notices across the US and possibly Ireland, but again, I don't know for sure. The General Chemistry hardware and software development center, traditionally centered in Brea Ca, will now be centered in Mishimi Japan with the ex-0lympus. Ex Olympus have a 3 year no layoff policy written into the acquisition contract, so they are doing very well thank you!

Redundancies will come from the countries of least resistance, ie, North America. Tomorrow, Thursday 10/15 is expected to be another blood bath in Brea / Fullerton Ca. Manufacturing. The number of 280+ US wide has been thrown out as a rumor, but I have no knowledge. There may also be some Chemistry development direction and project re-direction announcements. The only good thing is that at least this time, the management team "appears" to be leaving the Olympus sites autonomous, finally realizing that they have screwed up previous acquisitions trying to micromanage them from BCI Corporate. The worst thing marketing could do is try to "improve" the Olympus products by adding reliability killing features.

Automation development appears to be heading to Germany, again with ex-Olympus, leaving Indy with hanging tongues. I don't believe that we bought Olympus to strip them, we bought them because their old corporate provided R&D funds to improve their products and keep up with the times, while BCI, traditionally achieved a comfortable position, and re-directed R&D into bonuses. The acquisition is Good for my stock, bad for my job. My personal belief is that the few remaining development staff in Ca. are on the 3 to 5 year plan at most. For those "systems" people left, the future is bright. There appear to be great plans, unfortunately, they just don't include my line of work.

58+ people were laid off from BCI... This is what happens when those who make the decisions have never even spoken with, let alone verified the capabilites of those on the cut list. Olympus might be the future but who is going to look after the needs of BCI's huge installed base?"

Fortunately I've been out of Beckman for several years. The question raised by the original poster is the same question I have - who is minding the store? Who is going to develop the next generation instruments and reagents? What is the official company line on this? What are managers told to tell current employees?

What site did the 58 come from this time?

"58+ people were laid off from BCI... This is what happens when those who make the decisions have never even spoken with, let alone verified the capabilites of those on the cut list. Olympus might be the future but who is going to look after the needs of BCI's huge installed base?"

Fortunately I've been out of Beckman for several years. The question raised by the original poster is the same question I have - who is minding the store? Who is going to develop the next generation instruments and reagents? What is the official company line on this? What are managers told to tell current employees?

You're right, my mistake. It still sucks that they slash and burn long term hard working employees but can always find something (or nothing) to do for management.

Ex- Abbott buddies? Thought he was ex- Baxter.

It's confirmed, they changed the BEC Web site today. Melina is out and CO is in as SVP for Quality & Regulatory. Notice however that Melina remains a VP. SG can always find a slot for his ex-Abbott buddies.

"C O now SVP"

SVP of Quality & Regulatory?

Why are they keeping this so hush, hush? Nothing on the BEC Web site. Nothing in the media. How many times is SG going to rotate in new "players" before folks realize it is not the players but the "coach" who is the problem? SG hand picked Dr. B for this, then Dr. C, now C O.

C O now SVP

Are you referring to Melina dumping stock or actually quitting the company?

If you are referring to the recent SEC Form 4A dumping some phantom stock, that was because the Beckman geniuses screwed up on the original Form 4 filing and had to correct it.

It's MelinaC NOT MelinaS. I see nothing about her departure on Google searches or the BEC web site and her LinkedIn page still says SVP Beckman. If this occurred Friday it may be a bit early. Can anyone else confirm?

"MelinaS, (who was handpicked by company Prez ScottG) dumped Beckman Coulter. Is this telling or what?? I wonder what she knows..........."

She knows that Scotty's "R4G" plan and subsequent "streamlining" plan are only a ploy to make the financials look good so Scotty and his minions will get big bonuses. Since there are really no new innovative products on the horizon you can expect Scotty to retire by year end taking his golden parachute with him after literally destroying the careers and lives of hundreds of Beckman employees and their families.

Meanwhile they have destroyed a once proud and innovative company through complete leadership incompetence.

We can only hope that some of those impacted by the layoffs will be successful in litigation for age discrimination or at least getting the EEOC to investigate.

It doesn't get any better than this. Beckman Coulter plays like a sitcom. Friday, after BCI dumped over 200 employees, the Senior VEEP of Regulatory Affairs and Quality, MelinaS, (who was handpicked by company Prez ScottG) dumped Beckman Coulter. Is this telling or what?? I wonder what she knows...........

58+ people were laid off from BCI this past Thursday. Many of the best and the brightest were cleaved. New product development was hit hardest, leaving only 4 mechanical engineers on the payroll. The idiots cut the only EE (EdM) not only capable of creative design work but also line maintenence, regulatory compiance testing, board layout and programming--what were they thinking? Of course,they were not. This is what happens when those who make the decisions have never even spoken with, let alone veified the capabilites of those on the cut list. Olympus might be the future but who is going to look after the needs of BCI's huge installed base?

"I challenge you to name one merger or acquisition that has benefitted employees or customers."

True mergers are very rare, most are acquisitions. In a great many cases the acquisition masks a failure of the acquired company that would otherwise have gone bankrupt, causing greater loss of jobs and customers with products that would not be serviced.

Failed companies, products, states, marriages, all of them are unpleasant for those who were in them. Sometimes others with more resources pick up what is salvageable and these become parts of new entities.

What is not discussed is why Olympus was not willing to continue with their diagnostic products on their own. The story is usually that the products/division "do not meet the strategy going forward" or similar words, when in most cases it was a failure to meet the numbers in market share, profit or ROI. Was Olympus successful even though their products were good? Were Behring, Coulter, Technicon at their points of acquisition? Look at the past and you realize that the investors in these companies just took what money they could get from selling them, rather than pouring more money into what was a losing venture.

Survival of the fittest, unless a government is willing to bail them out. Jury is out on whether that will work for GM etc.

There are bound to be adverse impacts on employees and customers. Change happens, and it's not always the change that one wants or likes. Understanding why is important for customers and employees so they can try to manage what they will have. For customers, check out the company you buy from, not just the price. For employees, look at what the numbers and management to see if you want to stay on a bus with a bad driver and going the wrong way.

Beckman layoff this Thursday, Brea Fullerton

Yet another BLACK THURSDAY Every week we get this rumour
I know this is a rumour Mill but please give it some credibility.
We never hear of what has actually happened only pessimism
Tell us on Friday what did happen with the actual stats.

I challenge you to name one merger or acquisition that has benefitted employees or customers.

The Beckman Coulter/Olympus deal is no different. While it may be too early to gauge the impact on customers there have been numerous reports here on Biofind about adverse impact to employees.

Beckman layoff this Thursday, Brea Fullerton