PAYER takes over fluid pack production from Roche Diagnostics in Graz
St. Bartholomä, April 13, 2011
July 2011 will see Roche Diagnostics in Graz transfer 6 fluid pack production systems to PAYER International Technologies in St. Bartholomä.
The PAYER Group, which has been actively involved in the field of medical technology since 2009, is continuing to rely on its strengths and is expanding its site in the Styria region of Austria.
Strengthening of the Competence Centre for Health Care Solutions within PAYER
The end of July 2011 will see PAYER take over 6 medium-sized fluid pack* production systems from Roche Diagnostics in Graz. Six contract workers previously produced approximately 140,000 reagent packs per year using these systems and an increase in the number of units produced is anticipated over the coming years. PAYER offers these employees the opportunity to continue working in this field within the Competence Centre for Medical Technology at the St. Bartholomä site.
Furthermore, late December 2011 will see the installation of additional tools for producing die cast parts for these packs in St. Bartholomä. These measures will enable a higher vertical production depth to be achieved as well as permitting the highest level of efficiency and quality.
(* Fluid packs provide blood gas analysis devices with a number of control, calibration and washing solutions to ensure that these devices operate continuously and carry out quality control of the diagnostic system).
Value added remains within the country
Since announcing the planned transfer of the Roche Diagnostics site in Graz to Rotkreuz (Switzerland) by the end of 2013, in-depth discussions have been held between PAYER and Roche Diagnostics in Graz. The objective of these discussions was to establish possibilities for taking over fields of production and therefore keeping value added and jobs within the Styria region of Austria. The first positive outcome was successfully reached in recent weeks; further discussions are ongoing and confirm Roche’s intentions to continue to use future synergies with strategic partners in Styria by means of outsourcing part productions, engineering and research and development services.
Roche is also planning on contracting supplier productions out to Styrian firms at other locations, as well as sourcing an increasing number of products and services from Styria. What is more, Roche remains a member of the Styrian Human Technology Cluster (HTS) and is expanding a number of different research cooperations, for example with the TU-Graz, the Competence Centre for Pharmaceutical Engineering (RCPE) and the Biobank. Together with HTS, Roche Diagnostics in Graz is arranging for delegates to visit Roche sites within Germany and Switzerland with the objective of enabling Styrian companies to gain direct access to the central purchasing departments on the large Roche sites.
Activities at the PAYER site in St. Bartholomä
Within the course of this takeover, PAYER will invest 1 million euros in production systems and infrastructure by the end of the year. Further premises will be adapted to suit the medical technical requirements and additional production areas will therefore be created. PAYER is using this project to position itself as a vital and long-term supplier of medical devices.
PAYER can use the transfer of production systems to St. Bartholomä to further strengthen its competences and to improve its production area so that this is more efficient. This enables the optimum use of synergies with other areas
