SubscribePrecision, safety, and speed are key factors in the drive for constant innovation, particularly in the Life Science sector.
Increasing demands from consumers, which are addressed by new product ideas, require extraordinary technical and creative know-how from researchers and developers, as well as a great deal of responsibility. There is virtually no other business sector in which product safety is of such vital importance. Before a product is marketed, biological, chemical, and physical environmental conditions must be perfectly simulated. Because maximum product safety demands maximum process safety.
BINDER GmbH is a pioneer in the development and manufacture of simulation chambers. Advanced technology and innovative strength are the foundation of the company's success. BINDER equipment can be found in many industry sectors. BINDER's Life Sciences division supplies products to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and food industries, as well as to research institutes.
The pharmaceutical industry, for example, uses BINDER simulation chambers to test the shelf life of medicines. This requires a variety of environmental conditions, from dry to humid and hot to cold, to test for changes in the properties of medicines. Next to the electronics industry, the still relatively young environmental testing sector primarily serves the automotive industry, for example by simulating a 10-year weathering process for a polymer in a BINDER simulation chamber in just a few days.
The company sold approximately 16,500 units worldwide in 2005. This represents a significant double-digit percentage increase over the previous year. The company earns approximately 85% of its operating revenue from the Life Science sector, with the remaining 15% from the Environmental Testing field. By 2013, the company expects sales to be equal in both sectors, with total revenues clearly exceeding the €100 million mark.
An important indicator for the future and the optimal starting point for this planned growth is BINDER's new Research and Development Center. The company invested €8 million in this structure, which symbolizes its corporate vision. The Center is a hub of activity for some 100 employees, who are tirelessly working on new product innovations and modifications. The increasing complexity of technological interrelationships and the growing interdependency between technical disciplines requires continuous and close cooperation between specialists in different areas.
At the Center, interdisciplinary research teams consisting of mechanical designers, hardware and software specialists, electronics engineers, automation specialists, and product managers are engaged in developing new product ideas. This has 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 spreads expertise as well as responsibility for these innovations across many areas of the company.
It generally takes three to four months from the time an original idea arises until the product is introduced on the market. BINDER GmbH already holds more than 70 patents and invests roughly 13% of its sales into research and development annually.
"You need people to have ideas and ideas to have products," says Peter Michael Binder. This is why he relies on an essentially open organizational structure, which allows the freedom necessary for creative ideas. The most important prerequisites for maintaining a high level of innovation are the employees and their willingness to venture into uncharted territory. Promoting innovation is a permanent component of BINDER's corporate strategy.
This is also clearly reflected in the architecture of the Research and Development Center, with its bright and progressive exterior design. The Center has special laboratories for visiting bioscience researchers as well as electrical engineering and mechatronics training facilities.
These facilities ensure an uninterrupted flow of information on up-to-date technologies and developments, while giving the next generation of researchers the opportunity to exchange ideas and learn from experienced personnel. Since 1998, BINDER GmbH has also presented promising researchers with the annual BINDER Innovation Award, accompanied by a cash prize of €4,000. Professor Dr. Ivan Dikic was recently honored for his studies in the field of signal transduction.
For Peter Michael Binder, this focus on innovation within the company represents the most important difference 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 the hierarchy. Instead, we can make a decision for or against a product innovation within one week."
Future growth will also be achieved by deploying internal resources and using BINDER's technological advantage to create superior new products. In addition to expanding the Environmental Testing area, BINDER's focus on future markets includes offering cost-effective equipment. The company plans to sell equipment under different brand names in the future in order to address other potential customer target groups. The most important growth engine for BINDER continues to be its business abroad, particularly the markets in Asia and the USA.
Foreign sales currently account for 80% of the company's revenue. Central, Northern, and Eastern Europe are serviced and supported from BINDER headquarters in Tuttlingen, and it maintains its own sales representation for the USA and Asia through offices in New York and Kuala Lumpur. The company lives up to its maxim that "customer satisfaction remains our ultimate goal" by combining 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 overcome impossible obstacles. Our strengths emerge particularly in complex and demanding tasks," says Peter Michael Binder in outlining his company philosophy.