Unicep Packaging Inc., of Sandpoint, is expecting big things from its small, squeezable vials.


Demand has been so strong for its tiny MicroDose fluid and gel dispenserswhich some customers say look like hummingbirds, and which hold products ranging from medicine to glue to hair dyethat Unicep tripled the size of its manufacturing-and-office building this year to about 30,000 square feet of floor space, says Steve Dilts, Uniceps director of sales and marketing.


It also has hired 11 people this year, bringing its total employment to about 40, Dilts says.


Sales year-to-date are three times what they were in all of 2000, he adds, although he declines to disclose that number for the privately-held company.


Were expanding when a lot of other companies are shrinking, having had our best year ever, he says.


Unicep expects more growth next year, he says. The company, which in addition to manufacturing the vials also fills them for customers, anticipates that next years sales will be twice as high as this years, based in part on the introduction of a new product, a one-dose plastic bottle with a disposable, twist-off top. That product, called the Twister, is just being introduced to the market, Dilts says.


The Twister is shaped like a bottle and can stand up like one, unlike the MicroDose dispensers, Dilts says. Were doing custom shapes that actually will mimic or duplicate the shape of a larger bottle that a customer markets, making it a natural to hold samples, he says.


We think (it) is really going to take us to the next level, he says.


Originally in dental business


Uniceps business has taken off as a result of a refocusing effort begun three years ago, Dilts says.


The company was founded in 1990 as American Dental Hygienics by Sandpoint dentist John Sneddon, who still owns the concern. It originally manufactured about a dozen dental products that were packaged in MicroDose dispensers, which Sneddon designed, Dilts says. The dispensers get their name from their ability to hold and dispense a single dose, or usage, of a product.


As its dental products made their way onto the market, however, other manufacturers began to express an interest in the proprietary containers in which the products were packaged, Dilts says.


We became aware that we had a real winner on our hands when we first went to a medical design and manufacturing convention in Southern California in 1997. We were literally swamped with inquiries about our package, he says.


American Dental Hygienics sold the sales and marketing rights to the dental products to another company in 1998, changed its name to Unicep, and began to concentrate solely on marketing the MicroDose dispensers.


The completion in May of a 20,000-square-foot addition to Uniceps building, at 1702 Industrial Drive, in Sandpoint, gave the company the ability to expand production of the dispensers to meet demand, Dilts says. Unicep now makes the MicroDose line in a range of sizes, from 0.18 milliliter to 8 milliliters (about a teaspoon and a half) in volume, and in several colors. The company also makes single-dose dispensers in custom shapes and sizes.


The $1 million plant expansion also gave Unicep enough space to expand its add-on services, such as printing on and labeling the MicroDose containers, or packaging filled dispensers for shipment or sales, he says.


The company, however, hasnt entirely gotten away from the dental business, although Sneddon, who is Uniceps president and devotes his efforts full time to the company, no longer practices dentistry.


Unicep still manufactures under contract the dental products it has made since its inception, and also makes a line of teeth-whitening products that it sells to dental-products companies and dental offices for private-label resale, Dilts says.


Some of Uniceps customers hire it to mix the fluids and gels that they want to have filled into the vials. Others provide the products in bulk for filling, Dilts says. The company also mixes customer compounds under contract and fills containers it doesnt make itself, such as tubes and syringes, he says. The addition to its plant will allow the company to quadruple its mixing capacity, he says.


Manufacturing the MicroDose containers represents about 50 percent of Uniceps total business, while the contract manufacturing and mixing activities make up the rest, he says.


The companys plant is licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to package some drugs and medical devices, and manufacture and package cosmetics, Dilts says.


He says Unicep is looking at the market for diagnostic test kits as an exciting opportunity for the future. Such kits might contain everything a nurse or doctor might need to test a patient for a particular condition, such as flu, for example.


Were finding a lot of these manufacturers of diagnostics require very small amounts of controlled solutions and reagents, and there arent a lot of options available to package 0.1 milliliter or 0.2 milliliters in a package thats disposable and not very expensive, Dilts says.


In addition, Unicep is watching with great interest the development of a biotechnology park on Spokanes West Plains, he says.


We think we could be a key regional supplier for some of those companies located out there, he says.


For now, Unicep is busy managing its growth spurt, Dilts says: We keep asking ourselves, When is this going to slow down?