All signs are pointing toward growth at Raumedic in Helmbrechts (Germany). Two additional production facilities are scheduled to be erected at the company’s headquarters by 2025. The expansion will focus in particular on the company’s silicone tubing segment.
Under conditions much like those found in operating rooms, Raumedic manufactures medical thermoplastic and silicone products for the international medical technology and pharmaceutical industries.
The planning for the first new building, in which the company will make its products in a controlled clean-room environment, is almost complete. The application for a building permit is expected to be submitted in the first quarter of 2022, and construction work at the site on the industrial park “A9 Mitte” should begin sometime next spring. The new production facility with 54,000 sq. ft. of floor space will be specially equipped for silicone processing, with extrusion systems, a laboratory and a raw-materials technical centre. Medical-grade silicone is frequently used as a sealing material in medical products, as well as in the form of tubing required for manufacturing pharmaceuticals and vaccines.
“We’re really seeing increased demand from the pharmaceutical industry at the moment,” Raumedic CEO Stefan Seuferling said. Nonetheless, the company has experienced a drop in certain sub-areas. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, some regularly scheduled operations have been postponed. To offset the lower demand for solutions in areas such as ophthalmology and orthopedics, the company investigated new potential within the pharma industry last year. “In 2019, we also took steps to strengthen sales and marketing as part of our strategic repositioning of Raumedic,” the CEO said.
Production in the new building will also reach full capacity in the medium term. “We already know that a third plant will not suffice,” Stefan Seuferling said. “Over the next 5 years, we will invest a total of €50 million in the structural expansion of the Helmbrechts location and further increase silicone processing at the same time.”
About 80 of the company’s 900 employees worldwide work in silicone extrusion at the company’s headquarters. Roughly twice as many are expected to be employed in this production area by 2025. The company needs more employees in virtually every department as a result of its growth. The Raumedic Group is forecasting revenue of €150 million worldwide in 2021.