Datwyler marks opening of pharmaceutical packaging sealing plant in Middletown

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Datwyler  marked the official opening of its new $100 million pharmaceutical sealing technology plant  in Middletown near the Amazon Fulfillment Center. 

Middletown is the Swiss company ’s third facility with First Line standard and will work in markets in North and South America. The company also has a packaging facility in Pennsauken, NJ.

Approximately 120 jobs will be created, with the majority coming from the local community. The company did receive a financial package from the State of Delaware.

With the Middletown facility, Datwyler will be able to increase its global First Line production by 50 percent by 2020.

First Line is specially designed to manufacture biotech and pharmaceutical elastomer components for sealing purposes.

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Frank Schoubben, Site Director Middletown, said,  “The U.S. market is the largest market for rubber components for the pharmaceutical industry. To build a facility here in the United States which is aligned to First Line is of considerable strategic importance. Because although we are a globally acting company, we believe that being within close proximity to our customers and providing locally produced components enables us to better accommodate individual customer requirements. Furthermore, we want to staff as many local people as possible.”

 “Healthcare is a challenging business. The pharmaceutical and medical markets continuously undergo diverse challenges and changes that are directly linked to the transforming needs of the healthcare industry. Datwyler’s ambition is to become more agile, create a more innovative working environment for our employees, and constantly reinvent ourselves to drive profitable growth, stated, Torsten Maschke, CEO Datwyler Sealing Solutions.“This reflects our key values of entrepreneurship. As a leading supplier of customized sealing solutions to global market segments, we are constantly striving for leadership by putting our company in the fast lane. We invest in innovation by building facilities – just like here in Middletown – with cutting-edge production technologies. And in doing so, we are able to develop future-proof products that shape the market.”

Datwyler’s two other facilities with First Line standard are located in Alken, Belgium, and Pune, India.

The construction of the Middletown facility started in December 2016. Since then, Datwyler invested more than $100 million in building the production facility.

 The facility will be fully operational by the end of this year, with first samples to be expected in the fourth quarter.

Since human interaction can bear risks of contamination, Datwyler is constantly working towards increasing the degree of automation within the cleanroom. Therefore, the individual production lines in the cleanroom are designed to run along with the most advanced, fully automated processes.

Middletown currently features the highest level of automation within the cleanroom environment at Datwyler’s First Line facilities.

Datwyler only allows few authorized personnel to enter the cleanroom environment. However, to give customers and partners the opportunity to observe the production without having to enter the cleanroom, Datwyler built an entire visitor center adjacent to the production facility. From there, visitors can learn more about the First Line concept and the individual production steps, observe the production process, and experience the uniqueness of this manufacturing approach.

Datwyler has more than 7,000 employees and annual revenue of $1.3 billion. (Click here for an earlier story from Delaware Business Now).

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