Siemens Healthineers has opened its first European-based manufacturing facility for ultrasound systems in Slovakia.
Siemens Healthineers is expanding its ultrasound manufacturing capabilities in Europe with a new facility in Košice, Slovakia.
The company held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on December 9 at the 3,300-square-meter factory. Designed with an initial capacity of up to 120 systems per week, the site will supplement the company's manufacturing operations in Asia and the U.S.
“Being able to have products produced much closer to our customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa is hugely important, especially after all the shipping and supply chain challenges of the last couple of years," said Ajay Gannerkote, president of the ultrasound business area of Siemens Healthineers, in a statement. "We need to be able to deliver what our customers need, when they need it, and this new facility allows us to do this in a much more agile way.”
By ground shipping products to customers in Europe, as opposed to transporting them from Asia via air freight, The facility allows Siemens to reduce those carbon emissions by 90%.
Additionally, the opening creates more than 30 new jobs at the facility and 300 more at an office in downtown Košice, bringing the total number of Siemens Healthineers employees in Slovakia as a whole to over 800.
The facility will manufacture a portion of all general imaging and cardiovascular ultrasound solutions, including the Acuson Sequoia and the Acuson Redwood systems.
"The ultrasound business area has been critically looking at its business operations, including manufacturing, and how we can evolve to best serve our customers and their patients," A Siemens Healthineers spokesperson told HCB News. "We are consistently evaluating our processes so we are better able to meet the unique needs of our customers globally."
