Gerresheimer is now also expanding the development center in Wackersdorf to include glass products

Gerresheimer investiert einen zweistelligen Millionenbetrag, um 3.000 Quadratmeter zusätzliche Fläche für die Entwicklung und Industrialisierung von Glasprodukten zu schaffen. / Gerresheimer is investing tens of millions in creating 3,000 square meters of additional space for the development and industrialization of glass products.

Gerresheimer Medical Systems is expanding its Technical Competence Center (TCC) at the Wackersdorf location. The company is investing tens of millions in creating 3,000 square meters of additional space for the development and industrialization of glass products, such as syringes and carpules. The task area of the Technical Competence Center is thus being expanded beyond the previous area of focus of plastics to include the additional material of “glass.” Construction began recently, and the project should be completed by the end of the year.

Gerresheimer AG offers pharmaceutical and medical technology products of plastics and glass in its Medical Systems business unit. The strategy of the company to merge its competence for both materials under one roof is now also being expanded to the development and industrialization areas. The Technical Competence Center (TCC) in Wackersdorf was previously responsible for the development and industrialization of products made of plastics. Innovative glass products, such as pre-fillable syringes and cartridges will also be prepared for series production here in future. The establishing of glass competence in the TCC will expand the technology portfolio at the Wackersdorf location. The Technical Competence Center bundles all areas required for the technical and process organization realization of products. Twenty-five new jobs will be created by 2020 for this purpose.

One focus of the expansion is the establishing of small batch production for pre-fillable glass syringes and cartridges. Here it is possible to produce pre-series modules from glass forming to ready-to-ship, washed, and siliconized ready-to-fill systems. The focus is on syringes and cartridges for especially sophisticated, biotechnologically manufactured medication, clinical samples for approval, or prototypes for process and technology development. At the same time, glass competence is also being established in the Automation Systems area (special machine engineering) in order to develop innovative technologies for glass forming and automation. New generations of glass forming lines for syringe production will in future originate in a cooperation between the Bünde and Wackersdorf locations. “In addition to the expansion of the technology portfolio, the expansion of small batch production and automation systems in Wackersdorf, we should also focus on large batch production at our location in Bünde, which previously had to be interrupted at considerable expense and effort for development projects and start-ups for new products,” comments Manfred Baumann (Global Executive Vice President Sales & Marketing, Administration & TCC, Management Board, Gerresheimer Regensburg GmbH) on the expansion.