Healthy progress Texor AB

HEALTHY PROGRESS

As one of the world’s largest subcontractors to the pharmaceutical industry Texor AB has built up a formidable production capability that can meet the most stringent requirements, particularly thanks to its growing cooperation with associate company Zetterströms. EmmaJane Batey spoke to senior managers from both companies to find out more.

The Texor Group is one of the world’s leading subcontractors for the provision of chromatography columns for the biotechnology industry and also an important name in subcontracting and system supplies for the life science industry. The Group posted a turnover of SEK 210m in 2010 and currently has 80 employees. It includes Texor AB and Zetterströms Rostfria AB, based in Lycksele and Molkom, Sweden, respectively, with the two companies enjoying an increasingly strong cooperation that is proving beneficial to both companies and their customers.

Josef Alenius, production manager at Texor AB, told Industry Europe how the company’s recent cooperation is already delivering results. He said, “Texor bought Zetterströms four years ago, so our relationship with it is relatively new. It was a strategic decision to acquire Zetterströms because its skill set and experience perfectly complements Texor AB, as Texor is purely a subcontractor and Zetterströms has its own sophisticated design and production departments.”

It is these two balancing provisions that have seen Texor and Zetterströms step up their commercial focus in the past six months in particular. Mr Alenius explained that the partnership is good for customers of both companies because it ensures a smoother total service provision from experts in each field working together on one solution.

Meeting the highest standards

Dan Kullgren, sales engineering manager from Zetterströms, agrees. He added, “Our core business is manufacturing pharmaceutical tanks of the very highest standard, particularly pressure vessels for pharma manufacturing applications. We excel in designing and creating jacketed pressure vessels with a high demand for documentation and traceability of all materials that come into contact with them. It makes sense that Zetterströms’ technical excellence blends well with the high-quality subcontracting experience of Texor, and we have found that this cooperation has allowed us to continue building our business at the very highest competency level.”

The reason that the collaboration between Texor and Zetterströms has been boosted in the past six months is because of a change of management, with the managing director of Texor now also holding the same position at both companies. Mr Alenius continued, “The director of the sales team has also changed, and we have utilised this new opportunity to sell the whole package to our customers.

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Staying close to the customer

With Texor working to be able to reach customers more directly, Mr Alenius pointed out that the company has no conflict of interest as it does not produce any of its own products, but can supply Zetterströms-produced equipment if required.

Texor has built up a strong long-term relationship with its largest client, GE Healthcare, and the company is continuously working to develop and increase its cooperation. Mr Alenius said, “GE Healthcare is very important to us and we are dedicated to maintaining and enhancing our working relationship wherever possible. We have also embarked on a customer development programme over the past 18 months that has seen us build other potentially mutually beneficial working relationships, so although the client names are currently confidential, we are confident of the future.”

Active in growing markets

Texor primarily subcontracts for customers in Asia, with GE Healthcare also using the company for inspecting and testing products before delivery. Most Texor deliveries are destined for Korea, China or India, although its US markets are growing steadily too, with Mr Alenius explaining that Singapore is widely considered to be the global HQ of the medical production industry, particularly for insulinrelated equipment.

Texor’s chromatography columns are closely connected to insulin production as they are used to purify individual chemical compounds from mixtures of compounds. This technologically advanced separation mechanism is what characterizes column chromatography, with Texor’s subcontracting capabilities able to add value to competitive projects.

Ready for the future

Mr Alenius explained that the Texor Group’s aim for the future is to boost its market position by continuing to enhance its knowledge base across the company, and to utilise the exciting opportunities from its activities with Zetterströms. He said, “The two companies together deliver a great complete package for our customers and we are steadily meeting the most stringent customer demands. We have also discussed the possibility of further acquisitions with the clear purpose of adding process knowledge to our skills portfolio, especially as we are already at the top of our game in design and production thanks to our experience and the capabilities of Zetterströms.” n