Görlitz appliances are in demand worldwide

For the anniversary, the employees travelled from the Neiße to the Elbe. We took a boat trip on the White Fleet from Königsstein to Dresden“, reports Michael Esther, Managing Director of Sysmex Partec GmbH in Görlitz. The vast majority of employees from all three locations took part. In addition to Görlitz, these are Münster and Leipzig.

Sysmex Partec GmbH and Michael Esther personally have a lot to celebrate at the moment. First and foremost, there is the anniversary of ten years of Sysmex Partec. With the signing of the contract in September 2013, the then Görlitzer Partec GmbH joined the much larger Sysmex Group from Japan – as an independent GmbH. A lot has happened since then, the company headquarters have been relocated from the industrial estate at the airfield to Arndtstrasse in the city centre of Göitz, the buildings at the airfield and on Wilhelmsplatz have been sold and the number of employees has grown from 100 to the current 172. 142 of them work in Görlitz - one less than in May 2021 -, 24 in Münster and six in Leipzig.

In the meantime, the Japanese have so much confidence in Michael Esther that he has been the sole managing director since this year. Previously, he mainly took care of the day-to-day business, but always had a second CEO at his side - a Japanese who was responsible for the strategic direction. Michael Esther has now been promoted, effectively combining both positions in one person.However, this does not change anything for him: he remains in Görlitz and still has to travel to Japan for one week per quarter.

In terms of business, the boss is currently particularly pleased about a large order from India: "We are currently producing 150 devices for HIV therapy monitoring, which are used to monitor the immune status.The devices, which are around 30 by 30 centimetres in size, are used to count immune cells that allow conclusions to be drawn about the success of the therapy. The company now has hardly any competition in India and a market share of over 90 per cent, says Michael Esther. There are now even 30 more devices for another customer in India.

However, Sysmex Partec GmbH is also succeeding in gaining more and more market share in Africa. Michael Esther is currently hoping for a large order there for a high three-digit number of devices for HIV therapy monitoring. These will be produced over the next two years.

Research and development are important

However, building the devices is by no means the only thing that happens on Arndtstraße. „Research and development for the Group is another mainstay“, says Michael Esther. In Görlitz, the main focus is on device development, while reagents are developed in Münster. Recently, Sysmex Partec GmbH has also been supplying parts for the heart of the analysers, which are built in Japan. „That is a huge order, we may need an additional half shift for it“, says the managing director. The Japanese have now developed confidence in the Germans here too: „My trips to Japan are not without effect.“

After all, the Görlitz site is also the only one in the entire group that has a department for turning and milling: „Not even Japan has that.“ To keep orders in the Group, a lot happens in Görlitz. „We are becoming more and more important in the Group“, says Michael Esther proudly. Further orders are already being negotiated: "There could also be further growth in terms of personnel." Currently, Görlitz is mainly looking for software engineers and development engineers for electronics, while Mönster is looking for service engineers who travel to customers.

Corona crisis is largely over

The company has largely overcome the corona crisis

During this time, HIV therapy control, one of the main pillars of Sysmex Partec GmbH, was no longer in such high demand because all efforts in India and Africa were channelled into combating the corona pandemic. „In the meantime, the corona-related sales losses have disappeared and the reliability of the supply chains has also normalised,“ says Michael Esther happily. Only one thing has remained: The purchase prices continue to rise. „This is causing us problems because we cannot pass them on 1:1 to our customers“, explains the boss. On the one hand, he is now trying to achieve better prices from suppliers and, on the other, to organise production more and more effectively.

The war in Ukraine, on the other hand, has fortunately had little impact on the company: "Previously, the cable harnesses came from Ukraine, but they no longer do.

In contrast, Sysmex Partec GmbH had no business relationships with Russia, so nothing has been lost there either.

Not least, the company has developed a new vision for 2022 and has since been approved by the Group: „We want to continue to grow with industrial applications in Görlitz.“ There is a new device that will be used to test beverages and cosmetics for microbacterial purity. This device is being built in Görlitz. „This is the growth engine of our company“, says Michael Esther. This business area is not completely new, but it is now being expanded. This has also been communicated to the employees: „So they know where things are going.“ Of course, all of this will also take place in Görlitzer Arndtstraße in the future, says Michael Esther: „We have enough space here, even in the event of an expansion.“

Article from the "Sächsische SZ" from 10 October 2023