Tag Archive for: Healthcare

HAHN Group sets the course for the future

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The HAHN Group is preparing for further growth.

With the reorganization of the investment structure by RSBG SE, the investment company for medium-sized companies of the RAG Foundation, RSBG Automation & Technologies GmbH is created as a new corporate platform. This also results in a broader potential and further synergies for the HAHN Group. The previous CEO of the HAHN Group, Thomas Hähn, will be in charge of the new platform. The previous managing director Philipp Unterhalt will take over the helm of the HAHN Group on April 1, 2021. Together with Axel Greschitz (CFO), the further expansion of the group in factory automation is driven forward. Additional locations are to be opened in the next few months.

RSBG Automation & Robotics Technologies GmbH as a new company platform enables growth in further business areas through the use of technical and organizational synergies

With the establishment of RSBG Automation & Robotics Technologies, RSBG SE opens up the possibility for further technology investments besides the HAHN Group. The HAHN Group is a 100 percent stake in the new platform and focuses on automation and robotics in the industrial environment. In addition, further investments in automation and robotics in non-industrial areas are planned.

Further development of the management team underlines the stability and continuity of the HAHN Group

The management of RSBG Automation & Robotics Technologies is taken over by Thomas Hähn, founder of HAHN Automation and longstanding CEO of the HAHN Group. In the future, as CEO of RSBG Automation & Robotics Technologies, he will be responsible for all activities in the area of automation & robotics, and will therefore continue to be strategically linked to the HAHN Group.

Philipp Unterhalt takes over the management of the HAHN Group. Together with Axel Greschitz as CFO, he will push the next growth step and promote the diversification of the company network. Unterhalt will take up his new role as CEO of the HAHN Group on April 1, 2021.

“I am pleased to introduce Philipp Unterhalt as the new CEO of the HAHN Group. He has demonstrated outstanding strategic orientation. With his international experience and value-based management style, he is the ideal candidate for the further development of the HAHN Group. I really appreciate our cooperation and look forward to continuing it in the new constellation,” said Thomas Hähn, CEO RSBG Automation & Robotics Technologies GmbH.

Philipp Unterhalt has been with the HAHN Group since 2014 and worked as its managing director since 2019. Together with Thomas Hähn he developed the concept of the HAHN Group as a platform for entrepreneurially managed automation companies and managed all transactions of the group of companies. Under his leadership, the new companies were integrated and the digital strategy was also developed and implemented. In addition to the operational business, the 39-year-old is also responsible for corona management at the HAHN Group. The economist lives with his family in Essen.

“The HAHN Group is a fascinating group of companies and entrepreneurs. Due to the network character, we can use the synergies of a large company and still be very close to the customer with innovative solutions,” explains Unterhalt. „I am really looking forward to working with the entire team in order to continue our successful strategy: organic growth, supplemented by technological expansion as well as expansion of the business in additional industries and the strengthening of global activities.“

Into the future with mobile robotics

The HAHN Group continues to grow even during the pandemic. Incoming orders across the Group in 2020 increased by 21 percent compared to the previous year, in particular due to orders in the healthcare sector. The focus of the current year is, among other things, on growth in the area of mobile robotics. Two more locations for the HAHN Robotics Network are to be established in southern and eastern Germany this spring. Mobile robotics enables the support of logistics processes in production with minimal integration effort and thus offers even for smaller companies interesting automation solutions that quickly pay for themselves.

Waldorf Technik and HAHN Automation jointly serve the demand for the healthcare industry

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The market for the healthcare industry has been booming in recent years. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the global demand for diagnostic laboratory consumables rose to unprecedented levels.

As a member of the HAHN Group, Waldorf Technik has access to a global network of automation and robotics specialists. The knowledge transfer within the HAHN Group and synergies in training of employees allow all companies to work together in managing additional order peaks. This allows Waldorf Technik to find a suitable solution together with the customer while fulfilling the order in a timely manner with the support and cooperation with HAHN Automation.

It quickly became clear that HAHN Automation could support Waldorf Technik not only with the building of standardized systems at their site in Rheinböllen, but also add their expertise in construction and design in order to improve processes. Automation systems for pipette tips are now also being manufactured in Rheinböllen in order to meet global demand.

The applied technology

As part of the cooperation, the patented and proven Vario TIP® FSS system from Waldorf Technik is built at the HAHN Automation site according to customer specifications. HAHN Automation and Waldorf Technik both grow from the exchange of knowledge. As a result, HAHN Automation today designs and builds completely new modules as required in order to jointly deliver unique production systems for the manufacture of laboratory consumable products.

Benefits of working together

As partially standardized solutions from Waldorf Technik were already available, HAHN Automation was able to implement the projects very quickly. With its extensive experience and competence, HAHN Automation was able to actively support the development department of Waldorf Technik. This experience with the healthcare industry, which was gained in a short time, is particularly valuable for HAHN Automation: The HAHN Automation Süd location in Villingen-Schwenningen was officially opened in September 2020 and focuses on the planning, design, construction, assembly and commissioning of assembly and testing systems for the production of medical devices and systems. The local team can also carry out appropriate equipment validations in order to adhere to FDA and EMA standards.

Synergies within the HAHN Group

With modular automation processes, the value-added steps in the manufacture of medical consumables can be covered even better through the cooperation between Waldorf Technik and HAHN Automation, as well as HAHN Robotics, GeKu and WEMO. Customers have the advantage that they are looked after by closely coordinated teams within the HAHN Group, which already have cooperation experience and enable quick collaboration.

HAHN Digital and Erium advance digital process optimization

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Synergy between top experts for manufacturing and specialists for process optimization in manufacturing with focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics

HAHN Digital, digitalization expert for manufacturing companies, part of the HAHN Group, and Erium, technology leader in the field of process optimization through AI in combination with expert knowledge, bundle their competencies and generate a joint offer for analytics use cases in manufacturing processes. While it is initially aimed at the healthcare sector, it can later be expanded to include the automotive, electronics and consumer goods industries.

The approach of HAHN Digital and Erium is based on closed AI-based control loops for the calculation of recommendations for action in the areas of availability and productivity to improve overall system effectiveness (OEE). Since the algorithms describe not only the system but also the manufactured product, predictions about product quality are particularly possible. The Erium approach offers the advantage that even small amounts of data are sufficient to carry out analyses. Using HAHN Digital’s background and understanding of specialist knowledge of experts and engineers, it is integrated into a statistical model that depicts the physical process. In this way, companies receive targeted insights more quickly.

Opportunities for manufacturing companies

Thanks to this partnership, operators of automation solutions from the HAHN Group have the advantage that in future there will be fewer rejects in production, processes will be stabilized and cycle times reduced, as process parameters can be defined more precisely through data analysis. With the help of machine parameters and the detection of anomalies, maintenance activities are triggered at an early stage, which enables targeted maintenance as required in the long term and avoids longer downtimes due to repairs.

The healthcare sector, and later other served segments by the HAHN Group, benefits from the analysis of process and quality parameters, which means that the causes of errors in the injection molding process can be identified more quickly. Using systematic statistical test planning, the start-up time is optimized and the effort involved in setting up, for example, filling processes is reduced. Since closed AI-based control loops for existing processes make process recertification necessary in many cases, it is worth equipping production systems with sensors and analytics tools right from the start. In the long term, the system provides the operator with information about the causes of errors, optimization potential and settings that can be optimized. In cooperation with other HAHN Group subsidiaries, HAHN Digital and Erium are already implementing their first projects together.

“Process analysis and optimization are becoming increasingly important, especially for manufacturing companies. Translating, ‘Smart factory’ into competitive factor for our clients, becomes key to meet the increasing demands related to ‘time to market’ and ‘quality assurance’” explains Uziel Zontag, Managing Director of HAHN Digital. “The connection between our deep understanding in digital manufacturing and Erium’s deep knowledge in advanced analytics will allow us to support our customers on their path with powerful AI. We look forward to this important cooperation.”

Dr. Theo Steininger, founder and CEO of Erium, adds: “The partnership was a logical step for us. The systems of the HAHN Group are ideally suited for the use of machine learning due to the existing technical possibilities. At the same time, with HAHN Digital we have the ideal point of contact in the group, as HAHN Digital is at home in both worlds – both in digitization technology and in automation technology. These are ideal conditions for mutual growth.“

HAHN Automation opens a new location in Villingen-Schwenningen, focusing on the healthcare industry

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HAHN Automation Süd in Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany, develops into a technology center for the healthcare industry

Since August 1, 2020, the original Invotec Deutschland GmbH has been operating under the new name HAHN Automation Süd GmbH. As a subsidiary of HAHN Automation with headquarters in Rheinböllen, Rhineland-Palatinate, the company will benefit even more of the synergies within the company network. On September 17, 2020, the location was opened with a small group of attendants at the Technologiepark-VS. Together with his guests, managing director Armin Doser looked back on the last 1.5 years as managing director of Invotec GmbH and gave an impressive outlook on the planned development of HAHN Automation Süd.

With a clear focus on the healthcare industry, HAHN Automation Süd will carry out projects relating to automation and testing in the production of medical devices and systems, as well as offering the validation of the relevant systems.

Big steps are planned for the future of the company. Frank Konrad as CEO and global managing director of HAHN Automation, looks confidently towards the future and strongly believes in the development of this site. Philipp Klaschka, CRO of HAHN Automation, presents the gradual development strategy of the location as follows: “With currently seven employees, HAHN Automation Süd is still one of the smallest sites within the HAHN Group, which should change quickly. As early as 2025 we want to employ 80 people in Villingen-Schwenningen and handle projects worth up to two million euros.”

“In the engineering sector in particular, skilled workers will be needed in the next few years,” explains Armin Doser, managing director of  HAHN Automation Süd. “This is why we would like to work closely with regional and national universities in order to promote the next generation of skilled workers.”

Keeping up with the technology of tomorrow, at the end of the event, guests had the opportunity to view production lines for the manufacturing of products in the healthcare sector, as well as to program the innovative SmartSolutions processing systems. These were presented to the market in August 2020 and represent an absolute innovation in the field of automation systems. Various solutions for the healthcare industry are also planned in the field of SmartSolutions, which will benefit greatly from the expertise of the team in Villingen-Schwenningen.

Modern automation allows quick response for high demand

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The HAHN Group enables the medical industry to react quickly to increasing demand in production.

The tailor-made automation solutions of the HAHN Group offer the best quality and the highest precision for manufacturers in the medical industries. The advantages of the HAHN Group’s global presence allows it to access components and experts quickly. Companies in the medical industry benefit from the HAHN Group as a partner for automation, particularly in this time with challenging tasks and high demand.