Record year

At Bausch+Ströbel, it's all about continuity. Over the past year, the specialty machinery manufacturer for the pharmaceutical industry continued to steer a course for growth, driven by a commitment to innovation and sustainability. However, the difficult economic conditions made it anything but easy for the company to achieve its ambitious goals.

The company's sustained positive growth is underscored by the following figures: In the 2023 financial year, the global sales of the B+S Group increased from  360 million to 440 million euros, representing a 22.5 percent increase in turnover.

A record that was achieved despite challenging conditions, as emphasized by partner and Executive Board member Markus Ströbel: "Our success in navigating through this challenging year and meeting the demands of our customers is primarily credited to the tremendous commitment demonstrated by our employees. As members of the Executive Board, we also had to decide on various measures to counteract the significant rise in costs in Germany. We've made significant strides in implementing these measures in collaboration with our management team. After all, profitability is crucial even for a family business. This profitability is what allows us to fund our continued growth", says Markus Ströbel.

"Our customers operate in the global pharmaceutical industry, a growing market that has become increasingly lucrative for various suppliers, including new suppliers and those from outside Europe.  This underscores the importance of expanding our lead over other machine manufacturers," he adds, "We have invested significant effort, and it has paid off in 2023."

As an example, Bausch+Ströbel has set a clear benchmark for the future with its state-of-the-art training facility in Ilshofen, opened just last year. Covering 1,600 square meters, it provides an innovative environment for young individuals in the fields of electronics, metalworking, and software to develop and learn. This represents just one of the ways in which the company is proactively addressing the challenge of preparing specialists for future business development.

However, the expansion initiatives extend beyond Ilshofen. To generate additional capacities for the ongoing growth in customer orders, new plants were established in Saxony and in the Münsterland region. The global market leader is not only expanding in Germany but also making strides in the USA. The inauguration of a state-of-the-art production facility in Branford, Connecticut, in mid-2023 underscores the company's ambitions — ambitions aimed specifically at meeting customer requirements.
 
To enhance customer proximity, a new Customer Care Center was recently launched in Mechelen, Belgium. Further customer centers are planned or already under construction.

Alongside these construction measures, key areas of business development also included significant investments in production and the exploration of new process solutions and digital services.

In winning the Red Dot Design Award 2023 for OMNIA XR, a virtual machine training application, Bausch+Ströbel once again demonstrated its innovative capabilities. This application offers an interactive training experience utilizing real machine data, all without the need to halt production.
 
By recently achieving ISO 14001:2015 certification, Bausch+Ströbel has once again affirmed its commitment to environmental protection and sustainability. Markus Ströbel has reiterated the goal of attaining climate neutrality by 2030 and charting a course towards a sustainable future.
 
Realizing these objectives also requires essential organizational changes and a corresponding expansion of the workforce. The company currently employs 2,850 people worldwide. Nearly 60 years ago, the company started in a garage with just four employees. Since then, Bausch+Ströbel technologies and services have played a crucial role in ensuring that vital, and at times life-saving, medicines and vaccines are globally available in a safe, reliable, and cost-effective manner.
 
"We aim to continue fulfilling this important responsibility in the future," says partner and Executive Board member Thorsten Bullinger. "As a family business, our foremost priority is to ensure the healthy and sustainable development of the company. Even as we continue to grow and the company expands, we remain committed to upholding the values and maintaining the inherent flexibility of a family business. The shareholders, Supervisory Board, Executive Board, and the Management are unanimous in their agreement on this. Ultimately, this enables us to offer our employees an ideal working environment."
 
"With this clear focus, we are confident that we will sustain steady and forward-looking growth this year," adds Markus Ströbel.