Rapiscan to employ about 50 in Apex

Its growth reflects security demands

If you have stepped through the metal detectors at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, you're familiar with the products of Rapiscan Systems.

The California company recently opened a manufacturing plant in Apex, its first facility in the state.

Demand for Rapiscan products, which include airport metal detectors and larger machines used to scan cargo containers and trucks, is growing as governments all over the world increase their security efforts.

Rapiscan's cargo scanning business has doubled annually for the past three years, said Peter Kant, the company's vice president of global government affairs. And the company has signed more contracts with government agencies, including the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

"Congress this year passed a law requiring 100 percent inspection of all cargo coming into the United States," he said. "Right now there is an inspection rate of about 5 percent."

Rapiscan has offices in Singapore, Malaysia and Australia.

At the 30,600-square-foot Apex facility, Rapiscan will build larger machines capable of checking for dangerous materials in cargo containers, trucks and other vehicles.

There are eight employees at the plant, Kant said. Over the next 18 months, that figure will grow to about 50.

"If we get another order, we're going to have to expand," he said.

Because it needs easy access to its West Coast headquarters, London office and government clients in Washington, D.C., the Triangle was a logical selection, said Kant, who is a Duke University alum.

"We needed a large facility that actually could grow with us," Kant said. "The state worked tirelessly to help us find a place that fit our needs."

The company did not receive incentives from the state or Apex.

Rapiscan's 2007 revenue was $186.6 million, SEC filings from its parent company, OSI Systems, show. Those sales accounted for 35 percent of OSI's annual revenue.

For Apex, gaining a new manufacturer is significant, Mayor Keith Weatherly said. "The availability of high-quality labor is what's drawing people," he said.