Quality is one of the most important factors for customers when establishing
confidence in a company. This is why product safety has top priority
in manufacturing, and in the Life Sciences sector it is an absolutely
vital element in the production of drugs. Increasingly higher standards
require researchers and developers to have extensive know-how, and especially
a sense of responsibility. Before a product is released for sale, it
has to be tested in a climatic environment that resembles natural conditions
as closely as possible - optimally in an environmental test chamber
made by BINDER.
BINDER, with its head office in Tuttlingen,
is the international leader in its industry and one of the pioneers
in developing simulation chambers. Its products are proven in the
field, and can be found in numerous laboratories around the world.
BINDER's Life Sciences division supplies products to the pharmaceutical,
biotechnology, and food industries, as well as research institutes.
BINDER test chambers are used by the pharmaceutical industry to test
the shelf life of medicines under various climatic and lighting circumstances.
These chambers can simulate a vast range of environmental situations
with controlled humidity, temperature and light, in order to test
the resistance of drugs and how these conditions affect their properties.
For laboratories working in the medical sciences sector, a high-precision
temperature environment is crucial for the storage and incubation
of cells. In addition to serving the electronics sector, our industrial
applications department also primarily serves customers in the automotive
industry. For example, the service life of products and their resistance
against environmental influences is tested by simulating a 10-year
weathering process for a polymer in a BINDER simulation chamber in
just a few days.Project 2013: a threefold increase in sales
The BINDER company has successfully marketed its products for the
last 25 years. The company was founded by its owner, Peter Michael
Binder, in 1983. At the beginning of the 90s, BINDER became the industry's
technology leader by introducing the highly advanced APT.Line
software for precision control of its temperature test chambers. In
the following years, the company focused on internationalization and
experienced double-digit growth. BINDER GmbH currently has 340 employees
worldwide and had annual sales of approximately 47 million in
2008. But even that isn't enough for this ambitious
company. Peter M. Binder has set high goals for himself and his employees
to reach by 2013. The objective is to achieve sales of 120 million
annually with a total of 500 employees. In order to reach this goal,
10+ million will be invested in the company's main facility
in Tuttlingen and for additional funding of the new Production and
Technology Center (PTC). The first construction phase of the PTC was
completed on schedule in 2007, with the final completion and inauguration
sometime early in 2009. By that time, the total production area will
have doubled. "We operate in an environment of international
competition, serving customers who expect high quality, customized
solutions and quick delivery. Optimizing our production processes
will allow us to significantly increase production while maintaining
our strict quality standards, significantly reduce our processing
times, and respond with greater speed and flexibility to our customers'
needs," says Peter M. Binder.
The Toyota Production System principle has served as a useful model
for the company in streamlining its production.A comprehensive range of advanced technical
products
In addition to lean and flexible production structures, the company's
strength is based primarily upon its advanced technology and innovation.
BINDER GmbH invests more than 10% of its annual sales revenue into
research and development. A staff of more than 100 in the Research
and Development Center (PTC) are engaged in developing new product
innovations and improvements. The increasing complexity of technological
interrelationships and the growing interdependency between technical
disciplines requires close ongoing cooperation between specialists
in different areas. At the PTC, interdisciplinary research teams consisting
of mechanical designers, hardware and software specialists, electronics
engineers, automation specialists, and product managers are developing
new product ideas. This offers the advantage of combining know-how
from throughout the company with product-related information, from
engineering to packaging, efficiently and in a timely fashion. This
process broadens expertise as well as responsibility for these innovations
across many areas of the company. Binder GmbH focuses on a comprehensive range
of highly specialized equipment, known for its quality, which is safe
in operation and is user-friendly. For Peter Michael Binder, this
focus on innovation within the company represents the most significant
distinction between BINDER and its competitors, as well as the basis
for its successful positioning as a market leader. He explains that
"in contrast to manufacturers who offer a full range of products,
we prefer to focus on highly specialized precision products. This
is in fact precisely the secret of our success. As a medium-sized
company, we are far more flexible and can respond much faster than
our competitors, who are often inhibited by complex corporate structures.
We don't need complicated discussions and synchronization between
the various levels within a hierarchy."Tuttlingen, Kuala Lumpur, Moscow and New York
Our future growth will also be achieved by deploying internal resources
and using our technological expertise in creating superior new products.
The most important growth engine for BINDER continues to be its business
abroad, particularly the markets in Asia and the USA.
BINDER earns roughly 80% of its operating revenue
through export. Central and Southern Europe are serviced and supported
from BINDER headquarters in Tuttlingen, and the markets in the USA
and in Asia are looked after by the subsidiaries BINDER Inc. (New
York) and BINDER Sdn. Bhd. (Kuala Lumpur); sales offices in Wolverhampton
and Moscow are responsible for Northern and Eastern Europe, respectively.
BINDER backs up its technological market leadership with a multifaceted
service portfolio. It offers a calibration service in compliance with
relevant international standards and specifications, as well as product
training, convenient software for recording measured data acquisition,
and a 24-hour replacement parts supply service. "We are proud
of our ability to make the impossible possible. Our strengths are
particularly evident when it comes to complex and demanding tasks,"
says Peter M. Binder in describing his company philosophy.