Melsungen. With a symbolic dig of the spade, B. Braun Melsungen AG today initiated expansion of its manufacturing facility for infusion devices. The start of production after the first phase of expansion is scheduled for 2009 and completion of the capacity enlargement program is envisaged for 2011.
As a result of the expansion, the existing manufacturing facility for infusion devices at the Pfieffewiesen works in Melsungen will be enlarged by 50 per cent in terms of floor space.
"The extension building will double our capacity at the Melsungen location. It is an important milestone on our way towards becoming the worldwide market and price leader in the field of infusion therapy. Even today, we are experiencing a boost in demand for this particular group of products – especially for infusion devices", said Dr. Meinrad Lugan, chief executive of the Hospital Care division, describing the objectives of the project. One reason for the strong demand for infusion devices in the last few years has been the implementation of various product improvements which have led to an overall increase in patient and user safety. The expansion of the product facility at the Melsungen location is part of an international project aimed at enlargement of the company's production capacities for infusion devices. Other construction projects in Vietnam and Brazil are included in the overall plans.
Construction of the extension building in Melsungen is composed of different phases. First of all, the actual extension building is being built directly next to the existing manufacturing facility. The two buildings will then be merged with each other at the end of 2008 and, from 2009 to 2011, manufacturing will be completely re-organised and redistributed throughout the single building which will thus have been created. Altogether, B. Braun Melsungen AG is investing 24 million euros in the extension building and another 50 million euros in new technical equipment.
"Manufacturing will be continued for the duration of the construction and conversion work. There will therefore be no losses of capacity as a result", explained works manager Hans-Dieter Fröhlich. The newly equipped manufacturing facility will be characterised by more efficient production processes (e.g. optimised internal procedures) as well as a substantial increase in capacity. This increase will be enabled by a new generation of assembly machines, which B. Braun-Sondermaschinenbau and an external partner have jointly developed. With the help of this new assembly technology - called DIVA -, it will be possible to produce 200 million infusion devices in 2011 compared to the 107 million units this year.
Construction of the extension building is part of an international investment program of B. Braun Melsungen AG and will cost a total of 1.4 billion euros, 50 per cent of which will flow into capacity expansion in Germany alone. The Melsungen location will continue to grow in the course of this investment program. Apart from the extension building for the manufacture of infusion devices, work on enlarging the European goods distribution centre in the Pfieffewiesen works was started in May. Moreover, construction of a new central laboratory and a medical equipment production facility directly next to the Pfieffewiesen works is planned.
Source: B. Braun Melsungen AG
