Sartorius AG
Encyclopedia
The Sartorius group is a leading international laboratory and process technology provider covering the areas of bio-technology and mechatronics
.
From its headquarters in Göttingen
Germany the company employs 4,500 people and is represented in more than 100 countries across the globe.
Sartorius’ main areas of activity within the bio-technology side of the company are filtration
, fluid management, fermentation
and cell cultivation, purification
and laboratory applications. The mechatronics division interests are primarily with the manufacturing of equipment and systems that provide weighing, measuring and automation technology for laboratory and industrial applications.
To allow the use of hydro power the company moved north of Göttingen to Bovenden, the new factory provided work for 60 people. This move coincided with the production of the 3000th scale by the company in 1895, However in 1899 the headquarters of the company was to move once more, this time to a plot near the Weender highway on the northern outskirts of Göttingen.
1906 saw the founder's three sons William (1872–1937), Erich (1876–1947) and Julius (1878–1918) become partners in their father's company, and shortly after in 1911 the company celebrated the construction of its 10,000th analytical balance. As a result of this Florenz and his sons saw fit to turn the company into a corporation in early 1914.
During the First World War the company was converted into producing military hardware, and the successful foreign business wings of the company were broken off. After the war ended the company returned to the proven business of weighing technology, however it was not until the mid 1930s that the pre-war production figures were once again achieved.
With the start of the Second World War the company was once again taken over for the purpose of building military hardware, this time for the air force, and for this purpose a new factory was completed in 1941.
Between the wars in 1927 the company under the name MBH began the industrial production of membrane filters, an area of production developed from the Nobel prize winner Richard Zsigmondy and his associate Wilhelm Bachmann. This early phase of production is still the foundation for Sartorius’ biotechnology division which dominates the production of filters today.
A year later and Sartorius successfully acquired the company B. Braun Biotech international the world's leading manufacturer of fermenters, bioreactors and cell cultivation systems.
2004 saw many of these newly acquired companies undergo rebranding, Boekels became Sartorius Aachen GmbH and Co. KG, GWT was re-released as Sartorius Hamburg
GmbH, and Braun Biotech international was renamed Sartorius BBI systems GmbH.
In 2005 Sartorius purchased a 100% stake in the application specialist Omnimark instrument corporation in Arizona USA, securing its foothold in America. Following on from the success of these previous purchases Sartorius took control of Toha Plast GmbH in 2007, this acquisition solidified Sartorius’ dominance in the Plastics technology for biopharmaceutical disposables industry. Sartorius latest acquisition was in 2008 and involved the purchasing of Swiss-based, Wave Biotech AG, which is a leading supplier in single use bioreactors. Later in 2007 the French based biotech supplier Stedim S.A was amalgamated into the biotechnology division of Sartorius. This merger enabled Sartorius Stedim Biotech to become a globally leading technology provider to the pharmaceutical industry. The success of this wing of the company caused it to be listed on the Paris Euronext stock exchange.
with a college for the internal and external transference of knowledge being set up in there. Other countries in which Sartorius has permanent sales and service contacts are, America, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, UK, Ireland, France, China, Hong Kong, Poland, Hungary, India, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Australia, Thailand, Singapore and South Korea.
Some of these sites have recently begun to grow and develop further, such as the site in Beijing which has recently expanded to 800sq. m., and the Bangalore campus which deals with both the mechatronics and biotech side of the company and measures 10000sqm. Sartorius’ foothold in North America is also expanding as business grows and recently developed to 65000sqft.
2004 saw the company take home the renowned Frost and Sullivan award for its innovation in product differentiation technology. Only a year later in 2005 and Sartorius won the "Best innovator of 2005" from the category of ‘Time to profit" awarded by the international management consultant A.T.Hearney and leading German business magazine WirtschaftsWoche.
In 2006 the international consulting company Frost and Sullivan again awarded Sartorius a prestigious prize, this time for the "2006 Growth Strategy Leadership Award".
Mechatronics
Mechatronics is the combination of mechanical engineering, electronic engineering, computer engineering, software engineering, control engineering, and systems design engineering in order to design, and manufacture useful products. Mechatronics is a multidisciplinary field of engineering, that is...
.
From its headquarters in Göttingen
Göttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
Germany the company employs 4,500 people and is represented in more than 100 countries across the globe.
Sartorius’ main areas of activity within the bio-technology side of the company are filtration
Filtration
Filtration is commonly the mechanical or physical operation which is used for the separation of solids from fluids by interposing a medium through which only the fluid can pass...
, fluid management, fermentation
Fermentation
Fermentation may refer to:* Fermentation , the use of fermentation in food preparation* Fermentation , a metabolic process whereby electrons released from nutrients are ultimately transferred to molecules obtained from the breakdown of those same nutrients* Fermentation , the process of...
and cell cultivation, purification
Purification
Purification is the process of rendering something pure, i.e. clean of foreign elements and/or pollution, and may refer to:* List of purification methods in chemistry* Water purification** Organisms used in water purification...
and laboratory applications. The mechatronics division interests are primarily with the manufacturing of equipment and systems that provide weighing, measuring and automation technology for laboratory and industrial applications.
Early history
140 years ago in 1870 Florenz Sartorius (1846–1925) a Göttingen University Mechanician founded the fine precision weighing company called "Feinmechanishe Werkstatt F. Sartorius" and began with the production of short-beam analytical balances. The new light weight material aluminum he used to produce these ensured rapid overseas sales.To allow the use of hydro power the company moved north of Göttingen to Bovenden, the new factory provided work for 60 people. This move coincided with the production of the 3000th scale by the company in 1895, However in 1899 the headquarters of the company was to move once more, this time to a plot near the Weender highway on the northern outskirts of Göttingen.
1906 saw the founder's three sons William (1872–1937), Erich (1876–1947) and Julius (1878–1918) become partners in their father's company, and shortly after in 1911 the company celebrated the construction of its 10,000th analytical balance. As a result of this Florenz and his sons saw fit to turn the company into a corporation in early 1914.
During the First World War the company was converted into producing military hardware, and the successful foreign business wings of the company were broken off. After the war ended the company returned to the proven business of weighing technology, however it was not until the mid 1930s that the pre-war production figures were once again achieved.
With the start of the Second World War the company was once again taken over for the purpose of building military hardware, this time for the air force, and for this purpose a new factory was completed in 1941.
Between the wars in 1927 the company under the name MBH began the industrial production of membrane filters, an area of production developed from the Nobel prize winner Richard Zsigmondy and his associate Wilhelm Bachmann. This early phase of production is still the foundation for Sartorius’ biotechnology division which dominates the production of filters today.
Acquisitions
In early 1990 Sartorius AG went public; this began the process that allowed for a large amount of capital to be raised which facilitated the acquisitions of several key companies into the Sartorius group. In 1998 following the successful capital acquisition Sartorius bought Boekels, a leader in quality control in the processing industry and in metal detection. The following year in 1999 three companies were bought; Vivascience, which specialized in innovative products for cell culture technology, protein purification and ultra filtration, Denver instruments which produced laboratory balances and measurement technology and GWT, the company formally know as Phillips Wagetechnick, a leader in capacity weighing technology.A year later and Sartorius successfully acquired the company B. Braun Biotech international the world's leading manufacturer of fermenters, bioreactors and cell cultivation systems.
2004 saw many of these newly acquired companies undergo rebranding, Boekels became Sartorius Aachen GmbH and Co. KG, GWT was re-released as Sartorius Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
GmbH, and Braun Biotech international was renamed Sartorius BBI systems GmbH.
In 2005 Sartorius purchased a 100% stake in the application specialist Omnimark instrument corporation in Arizona USA, securing its foothold in America. Following on from the success of these previous purchases Sartorius took control of Toha Plast GmbH in 2007, this acquisition solidified Sartorius’ dominance in the Plastics technology for biopharmaceutical disposables industry. Sartorius latest acquisition was in 2008 and involved the purchasing of Swiss-based, Wave Biotech AG, which is a leading supplier in single use bioreactors. Later in 2007 the French based biotech supplier Stedim S.A was amalgamated into the biotechnology division of Sartorius. This merger enabled Sartorius Stedim Biotech to become a globally leading technology provider to the pharmaceutical industry. The success of this wing of the company caused it to be listed on the Paris Euronext stock exchange.
Global presence
Sartorius’ presence is felt world wide in 110 different countries. In Germany Sartorius has three main sites, these are in Göttingen, Aachen and HamburgHamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
with a college for the internal and external transference of knowledge being set up in there. Other countries in which Sartorius has permanent sales and service contacts are, America, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, UK, Ireland, France, China, Hong Kong, Poland, Hungary, India, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Australia, Thailand, Singapore and South Korea.
Some of these sites have recently begun to grow and develop further, such as the site in Beijing which has recently expanded to 800sq. m., and the Bangalore campus which deals with both the mechatronics and biotech side of the company and measures 10000sqm. Sartorius’ foothold in North America is also expanding as business grows and recently developed to 65000sqft.
Awards
For a variety of different achievements’ Sartorius has received a range of awards. 2001 saw Sartorius receive the "innovation award, of the German Economy" for its development of the GENIUS analytical balance. Two years later Sartorius competed for and received the "initiative prize" for training and continuing education from the Otto Wolf foundation, the German Chamber of Commerce and industry and the German-language weekly financial journal Wochenmagazin.2004 saw the company take home the renowned Frost and Sullivan award for its innovation in product differentiation technology. Only a year later in 2005 and Sartorius won the "Best innovator of 2005" from the category of ‘Time to profit" awarded by the international management consultant A.T.Hearney and leading German business magazine WirtschaftsWoche.
In 2006 the international consulting company Frost and Sullivan again awarded Sartorius a prestigious prize, this time for the "2006 Growth Strategy Leadership Award".
Innovations
Since its early beginnings Sartorius has been responsible for a wide variety of innovative products that have led the market.- 1918- Richard Zsigmonday invents the membrane filter, and the cold ultrafilter.
- 1955- The first Microbalance for weighing under normal atmospheric conditions is introduced.
- 1964- The first laboratory balances with an analog output.
- 1969- The first plate and frame crossflow ultrafiltration system for relatively large volumes.
- 1970- Sartorius builds and sells the first electronic precision and analytical balances. The production of this is what facilitated the initial boom in foreign subsidiaries and is one of the main contributing factors to Sartorius’ global success today.
- 1971- Sartorius creates the first nanogram balance which sets the world record for the most precise weighing. The balance is then used to weigh the moon rocks that Neil Armstrong brings back to earth from his expedition.
- 1972- The first compact analytical balance with a digital, electronic weight display, stability control and digital output (BCD) is launched.
- 1976- The company creates the first autoclavable, integrity-testable filter cartridge with a pleated membrane filter.
- 1977- Saw the first fully electronic analytical balance with microprocessor electronics.
- 1979- The first top loading analytical balance (160g)
- 1982- The first explosion-protected version of an electronic precision balance in the world is debuted.
- 1983- Sartorius builds the first automatic unit for integrity testing of membrane filter systems.
- 1988- The first ever electronic top loading microbalance.
- 1989- The first large-area filter cartridge with progressively finer, targeted filtration (Jumbo cartridge)
- 1990- Sartorius goes public, and produces the first electronic laboratory balance series featuring MC1 technology.
- 1996- Sartorius builds the only ultra-microbalance with a weighing capacity featuring a resolution of 21million digits and an accuracy of 0.1 ug
- 1997- The first monolithic weigh cell technology is marketed. This weigh cell replaces its predecessor, a vastly complicated system constructed of up to 150 different parts. This product becomes the basis for most successive generations of balances and scales.