David Giuliani, founder and CEO, Pacific Bioscience Laboratories Inc. (Bellevue)

Winner: Manufacturing Executive of the Year (Large Companies)

By Bill Virgin

Credit: Photograph by Hayley Young

Pacific Bioscience Laboratories’
director of operations, Bill Vrana (left), and president, David Giuliani, stand
in the company’s Bellevue factory.

Can lightning strike twice for an
entrepreneur in the highly competitive consumer-products field? Can an American
company make it in the consumer products industry while still keeping its
manufacturing in the United States?

David Giuliani hopes so. Having
scored once with the Sonicare toothbrush (sold to Philips), he’s back with the
Clarisonic, a device that uses the same principles of sonic vibrations, only
this time used to cleanse skin.

Coming up with the device is only
a small part of the battle in the consumer products game. Marketing is a huge
component, especially for a relatively small company. But Clarisonic is getting
the word out with appearances on QVC, prominent placement on Oprah Winfrey’s
and Ellen DeGeneres’ talk shows, and promotional campaigns with retailers like
Nordstrom and with the makers of skin care products that are advertised as
being “great with your Clarisonic.” The company is also now selling its
products in the United Kingdom.

Pacific Bioscience builds its
products in a small space in Factoria. That’s a deliberate strategy. By doing
its own manufacturing domestically, Giuliani says, the company has greater
flexibility in production, more control of quality and less vulnerability to
knockoffs. Having product designers and manufacturing in house, he adds, also
makes it easier to develop new products.

Which is exactly what Clarisonic
is up to. Having rolled out the classic model at $195 and the Plus at $225, the
firm introduced the Mia, a compact model at $149. The next addition to the
lineup is the Opal, a sonic infusion device, which, used with a cream, attacks
facial wrinkles and fine lines.

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