Nihon Kohden, a Tokyo-based medical device manufacturer, is opening a technical support call center in Allentown, Pa. The company’s new 6,000-square-foot facility will complement the call center at its Irvine, Calif-based U.S. headquarters, allowing it to more quickly reach customers on the East Coast.

“We are always looking for ways to improve the quality of service and support we provide…because we know that every minute counts when it comes to patient care,” says Wilson Constantine, CEO of Nihon Kohden America. “While our new Allentown facility will initially serve as a second U.S. technical support call center, we will have the ability to add other functions in the future as customer needs dictate.”

Initially, Nihon Kohden will hire 12 people to man the call center. Eventually, the facility could grow to 50 people, including technicians and nurse executives.

“The opening of our new U.S. East Coast facility is an important milestone in Nihon Kohden’s Change 2020 initiative, which calls for us to achieve top share in key international markets over the next few years,” says Nihon Kohden’s CEO Fumio Suzuki. “It is only by providing [top] products and services to customers where they are—when they need it—that we will achieve this vision.”