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 ˆ47 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 ˆ120
million annually with a total of 500 employees. In order to
reach this goal, ˆ10+ 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.
