Life Science Precision Texor

LIFE SCIENCE PRECISION

Texor AB, the core member of Swedish Texor Group, is a global specialist in advanced manufacturing solutions in stainless steel for the life science industry. Quality is key in this sector, and the factor on which the company has based its reputation and growth. Romana Moares reports.

The Texor Group is one of the world’s leading sub-contractors of chromatography columns for the biotech industry and one of the foremost sub-contractors and system suppliers of Advanced Manufacturing Solutions for the life science industry.

The Group consists of Texor AB based in Lycksele, a successor of a business unit founded in 1967, and Zetterströms Rostfria AB based in Molkom, acquired in 2007 adding design competence and capacity, a step towards an increased focus on deliveries of complete systems to the global life science industry.

Texor operates in an industry of the future - its major clients are biotech, biopharma and traditional pharmaceutical companies. Developments in the field of biotechnology are moving fast and, in line with the discovery of new techniques and substances, fresh requirements are placed on suppliers to the life science industry.

“In summary, we are sub-contractors for the medical industry, building and supplying machines for drug production. This is our core business, which is supplemented by production of parts and machines for the food industry,” says Managing Director Josef Alenius.

He further explains that the company’s customers have one thing in common - requirements for the highest product quality and for delivery reliability including traceability. “In the production of all pharmaceuticals, regardless of whether they are produced in the traditional manner based on chemically produced molecules or by means of biotechnology, often with proteins as a base, the industry demands the highest standard and quality of production equipment.”

Utmost quality

The company’s core competence is in the production adaptation of complicated products and systems. The purpose is to achieve optimised and cost-effective production with an optimal flow in the process.

“Most of our products are made to customer specifications so it is impossible to single out a typical product. We have been manufacturing complex products and systems in stainless steel for more than 30 years. Our speciality is the manufacture of chromatography columns, which we have been doing for more than 15 years,” says Mr Alenius.

“The very high level of quality that we have to achieve is our most important competitive advantage. That quality is not so easy to replicate, for example in low cost countries. The quality relates not just to the product as such but to the whole process of delivery, i.e. including documentation.”

“We have full control and traceability of all raw materials, purchased goods and components. We conduct regular quality tests, measurements, testing and sampling of our production process in order to identify possible failings and faults at an early stage.”

He affirms that Texor assumes the overall responsibility for all the documentation required by the customer and the authorities, accompanying each solution, such as certificates, test reports, traceability protocols and manuals, delivered according to customer requirements either electronically, on CD or on paper in binders.

Moving forward

The company operates a purpose-built and flow-optimised production facility in Lycksele with an area of more than 4,000 sq m, as well as an automatic transportation unit providing the different machine groups with its production orders.

Texor’s solutions are shipped to customers worldwide. “We have recorded increased sales in Singapore and India over the last year and are now experiencing growth in the United States. Central Europe is also doing very well in terms of sales, as a result of increased capacity requiring more machines in that region,” says Mr Alenius.

He affirms that despite the high cost, their solutions sell well in Asia. “You cannot produce medicals on low-quality machines. We believe that the competence and experience we have built up in our manufacture of chromatography columns are unique in the world and are happy to apply that accumulated experience to designing advanced manufacturing solutions for customers wherever they may be.”

The company is now looking at further strengthening its footing. “We are considering potential acquisitions to expand our portfolio,” says Mr Alenius. “In the longer term, we would like to become a supplier of a complete product, possibly sold directly to the end customer. This will not happen tomorrow, but this is the direction in which we are going,” he affirmed in conclusion. n