Ralf Schmid, Senior Vice President, Special Sealing Division, is setting ambitious objectives for growth in the Medical & Healthcare field. Dominik Schneider, Segment Manager, Fluid Handling Technologies, Sales General Industry (GI), is driving the business forward on the sales side.
Ralf Schmid,
Senior Vice President,
Special Sealing Division
Dominik Schneider,
Segment Manager,
Fluid Handling Technologies
Ralf Schmid is zeroing in on a market segment – now known as Medical & Healthcare – where the Special Sealing Products (SSP) Division of Freudenberg Sealing Technologies (FST) wants to see strong growth. He described the ambitious scope of the initiative: “We serve the market across all market levels, whether its customers are manufacturers of medical devices, that is, OEMs, as direct business, or whether they are suppliers to these companies, manufacturing modules such as pumps or valves. Every year, we want to grow in the two-digit-percentage range and expand our market share across the entire range of our products and customers. The market is attractive and offers us enormous potential.” Even today, the division is achieving revenue in the double-digit million-euro range – and it is on the rise.
Business “boosted” by the Pandemic
SSP had already set these goals before the COVID pandemic, before special incoming orders gave the the business a lift. Schmid described the strategy: “We are taking a focused approach, with selected product groups and target customers,” Schmid said. Special sealing products and diaphragms from Reichelsheim, Kufstein and Morristown are the main pillars for this key FST segment. They are destined for applications in medical technology and health protection fields.
The dividing line with the Fluid Handling Segment is often unclear. When the order comes in, it is often not obvious which OEM will get the modules made by valve and pump manufacturers and equipped with FST components. They could be for dialysis or blood pressure measurement devices – or even totally different industrial facilities and equipment.
Along the same lines, Health & Safety fits into GI Sales in the Fluid Handling Technologies Segment that was formed just over a year ago. “We are often involved in medical technology indirectly, through other customers,” said Dominik Schneider, Segment Manager at Sales GI in Europe, who is responsible for Health & Safety applications. There is similar overlap in the pharmaceutical sector, where production and bottling systems are used much as they are in the chemical and the food/beverage industries, for example.
By contrast, the dividing line between FST and Freudenberg Medical is quite clear. The latter unit focuses on medical technology solutions that function on and inside patients’ bodies. Some examples are catheters, tubes and components made of silicone and thermoplastics.
“Aside from diaphragms and special seals, O-rings are another important product group where we are scoring wins in medical technologies. Dental technology is one example,” said Schneider. Among other applications, O-rings can be found in the handpieces that hold dentists’ drilling and grinding attachments.
Schneider is optimistic about the future. “Populations, prosperity and health awareness are on the rise in many regions of the world. More people can afford cosmetic dental treatments, prosthetics and implants. Thanks to orthodontics and dental aesthetics, personal appearance is playing an increasingly important role.”
