Sanner set for further expansion: new production sites in Germany and China

More than 120 participants attended the groundbreaking ceremony and festivities at the new Sanner location in the industrial estate “Stubenwald” in Bensheim, Germany, on January 21, 2023.

The new production facility offers the space to cater to all needs – from desiccant or effervescent packaging to medical technology, diagnostics, mechatronic pharma drug delivery solutions and drug handling.

The Sanner Group continues to prepare itself for further growth with the groundbreaking ceremony for a new production site and headquarters in Bensheim, Germany, and a second manufacturing facility in Kunshan, China, which is due to start production this summer. These expansions will support Sanner’s key strategic pillars: continue to enhance the packaging and desiccant portfolio for the healthcare market and to increase activities as a device CDMO with more space for fully automated production and assembly of medical technology, diagnostics, and pharma drug delivery solutions.

More than 120 participants from local government, Sanner management, shareholders, the construction contractors, as well as the Sanner project team and workforce attended the groundbreaking ceremony and festivities at the new location in the industrial estate “Stubenwald” in Bensheim, Germany, on January 21. With construction now underway, the business is due to transition all production to the new, state-of-the-art facility in September 2024. The building is centrally positioned to access key logistics routes. “The new site will be a great place to work with ample further capacity to address all of our current and future customers’ needs” says Dr. Johannis Willem van Vliet, CEO of the Sanner Group.

More than double the existing production capacity

The new site will have 30,000 square meters of production floor, doubling Sanner’s existing German capacity. New state-of-the-art, highly automated equipment will further increase production capacity by even more than 100 percent. The new facility will have the following capabilities:

– 300 square meters for a new technology and innovation center (“Sanner Technikum”), where customer-specific solutions and prototypes will be developed,
– separate desiccant and injection molding areas,
– a flexible molding and assembly production floor to adapt to customer needs in both the packaging and device CDMO areas,
– an automated central material supply to feed all machines,
– class 7 and 8 clean room capacity,
– ESD floors for electronic medical device components,
– double the current warehouse capacity with a fully automated stock management system.

“We want to offer our customers the highest possible flexibility and automation,” says van Vliet. “With the new production facilities, we have the space to cater to all needs – from desiccant or effervescent packaging to medical technology, diagnostics, mechatronic pharma drug delivery solutions and drug handling.”

Focus on sustainability

The new site will reduce energy consumption by 20-30 percent. By reducing natural gas use, installing state-of-the-art heat pumps and an automated heat exchange system, Sanner will further improve its ecological footprint. A photovoltaic system will also be installed. It will cover the entire roof of the factory, generating enough energy to power over 300 single-family households. Additionally, wind turbines will supply the energy needed for exterior lighting and electric chargers for electrical bicycles and cars. These measures, along with substantial vegetation and roof greening, make the new site a flagship for sustainable production in the region.

80 percent more capacity in Kunshan

In China, Sanner will start production in a new facility in summer 2023. The existing factory in Kunshan will continue to operate in parallel, whilst delivering the exemplary quality standards to which Sanners customers have become accustomed. The two sites are in close proximity and will give new and existing customers additional flexibility and increased supply security. The new site will have the following capabilities:

– 4,000 additional square meters of production space,
– class D clean rooms for GMP-compliant production of pharmaceutical and medical packaging solutions,
– warehouse, workshop, and office areas,
– a high degree of automation and energy-saving systems for highly efficient production processes.

“Altogether, Sanner will be able to increase production capacities in China by around 80 percent. This will enable us to grow the existing portfolio, while offering significantly more space to execute on our strategic focus as a device CDMO in China,” says Ralf Tiemann, CEO Asia-Pacific.

Further expansions planned

Following the expansions in Europe and Asia, Sanner intends to expand its business in North America. “In line with our market growth plans and the demands of our customers, we are looking to acquire a facility for development and production in the States to supply our U.S. customers with high-quality Sanner products and CDMO services even more efficiently,” says van Vliet.