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ePaper created 2015-03-04, 10:43:31 | version 1.33.01
I industry report Fig. 1_The Straumann production site is located in Villeret, a French-speaking municipality in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Fig. 2_Packaging in Villeret. _Straumann’s manufacturing plant in Villeret in Switzerland recently opened its doors to represen- tativesofthepresstolearnmoreaboutthemanufac- tureofitsdentalimplantproducts.TheplantisStrau- mann’s most important production site and one of thelargeststate-of-the-artfacilitiesinthedentalim- plant segment. It currently produces more than five million components per year. The production plant in Villeret was established in 2000, and expanded in 2004 and 2009. Today, it cov- ersabout15,000m²andemploysaround360people. About 1,500 different types of finished products, in- cluding implants, prostheses and cutting tools, are manufactured in the facility. In total, 4,500 different components are produced at the site, which are then distributedthroughStraumann’sheadquartersinthe Swiss capital, Basel. Almost all manufacturing processes for Straumann implants, except for sterili- sation, take place in Villeret. Raw materials, of which the company holds a strategic supply for 18 months, arestoredandtestedfortheirmechanicalandchem- ical properties on-site. A considerable number of high-tech machines manufacture the implants from titaniumandceramicbarsundertheconstantsuper- vision of operators. After every production step, the workpieces are checked for quality assurance. According to Andrew Lowe,headoftheStraumannVilleretfacility,wholed thetwo-hourtourthroughtheproductionplant,only 16 in one million implants are returned by customers to the facility owing to manufacture-related issues. Straumanncollaboratescloselywithothertechni- cal companies in the region. For instance, PRECITRAME MACHINES, a company specialising in thedevelopmentofstate-of-the-artautomatedpro- duction equipment, designed a CNC machine with 12 workstations for Straumann that works ten times faster than any other CNC machine currently avail- able on the market. Afterthetour,DrGerhardBauer,HeadofResearch, Development and Operations at Straumann, in- formed the journalists that, at a production capacity of 90 per cent in Villeret, Straumann has been able to reducecostsby5to8percentinrecentyears.Thishas mainly been accomplished through increasing au- tomationandefficiencyintheproductionsystemand a comprehensive insourcing programme, Bauer said. Moreover, Straumann is planning to make the pro- duction process paperless within the next two to threeyears.Theimplementationofnewsoftwarewill rendermostofthepaperworkrequiredforsuchcom- plex production unnecessary, according to Bauer._ Straumann provides exclusive insights into production site Author_Claudia Duschek, Germany 32 I implants1_2015 contact Straumann AG Peter Merian-Weg 12 4002 Basel,Switzerland www.straumann.com