A skeleton lies on an operating table. A number of surgical instruments are set up around this “patient”. They are all manufactured by Rudolf Storz in Emmingen.
Today, the company employs more than 140 people from twelve nations. It all started 75 years ago. On a small scale.
Emmingen has space and becomes the new home
In 1949, Rudolf Storz founded the medical technology company Storz Instrumente in Tuttlingen. At that time, the medical products were produced by hand.
In 2000, 51 years after the company was founded, Emmingen-Liptingen became the home of the medical technology company – because there was enough space in the Hundsrücken industrial estate there. The company then expanded there in 2011.
Rudolf Storz has three factories in the Hundsrücken industrial estate in Emminger. More than 140 people work there. (Photo: Rudolf Storz)
The company continues to grow and manufactures all of its instruments in Germany, reports Charlotte Kohlbecher from Rudolf Storz’s marketing department. The company has more than 7,000 products in its portfolio.
Stainless steel and titanium are processed in the same way as plastics, so that products do not affect the image in X-rays. The company can also keep up with prices through high volumes and appropriate automation.
After three generations in family hands, there is a change
The company was in the hands of the Storz family for three generations. In 2022, there was a change at the top of the company. Rudolf Storz took over Stuckenbrock Medizintechnik GmbH with managing partner Fabian Stuckenbrock.
Shortly after I sold the company, Olaf Storz approached me because it was important to him to plan his succession.
Fabian Stuckenbrock
The name Stuckenbrock is not unknown in the Tuttlingen area when it comes to the medical technology industry. The family was one of the shareholders in the company KLS Martin.
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Fabian Stuckenbrock himself has been managing the company Jakutec, which also specializes in surgical instruments, since 2018. However, it operates purely as a contract manufacturer. “Shortly after I sold the company, Olaf Storz approached me, saying it was important to him to shape his successor,” explains Stuckenbrock. “It was very important to Mr. Storz that his company be passed on to a family that has knowledge of medical technology and with whom long-term planning is possible – and not an investor who just wants to make money.”
Another company building will be added in 2024
This year, another company building was added: the logistics center Plant 3. Rudolf Storz is a contract manufacturer, which means that medical products are produced according to the customers’ wishes.
Sub-company sells products under its own name
While Rudolf Storz produces the instruments as a contract manufacturer but does not sell them under its own name, the situation is different at its subsidiary Medical Bees.
It is being set up as a second pillar, founded in 2012 and then launched on the market in 2016. The products are sold there under the company’s own name, so the relevant approvals for these products must also be taken care of.
The reason for this was a special drilling machine, which has also been approved for Medical Bees. The portfolio also includes products that other companies no longer produce for various reasons, or which no longer want to maintain approval, says Stuckenbrock.
It can take years from development to the finished product
The goal is for Medical Bees to grow, but only under the premise that it does not compete with Rudolf Storz’s customers. That is why Medical Bees only accounts for a small part of sales, he explains.
The design department at Rudolf Storz has grown particularly well. A total of eight employees work on new products there. It can take several years from development to the finished product, explains Kohlbecher.
Registration offices take too much time
In addition to market research, the development process also includes assessing the sales potential. In other words, asking yourself whether this clinical instrument is needed or not.
The color of the instruments indicates the size. (Photo: Linda Seiss)
Then it’s time to develop prototypes and compile the documents for approval. Stuckenbrock would like the relevant bodies, which in Germany include the TÜV, to make the approval times more predictable.
These are products that are needed in the market.
Fabian Stuckenbrock
This is the case, for example, with the American counterpart FDA (Food and Drug Administration). “They have to respond within 90 days, so the projects remain in flux,” he explains. Medical Bees currently has a file on which the company has not received any response for 1.5 years. “These are products that are needed in the market.” For the company, every day without a response also means less sales.
Bureaucracy could break the neck of small businesses in particular
He sees bureaucracy as one of the challenges of the future. “It’s enormous.” He also expects that smaller companies in particular will have to give up sooner or later because of it. This will then mean the loss of specialized suppliers for large companies.
The issue of personnel is also a challenge. The company is well positioned in terms of personnel. As far as the search for employees is concerned, he says: “We are all struggling with the same problems, but the variety and number of applicants is fine. We are in a position to fill the vacancies.” In September, three apprentices were able to begin their training at Rudolf Storz.
Rudolf Storz has a mobile trainee vehicle for the trainees. (Photo: Rudolf Storz)
The topics of education and cooperation between science and business are important to the company based in Emmingen-Liptingen. This is why Rudolf Storz is also the main sponsor of the university campus in Tuttlingen.
Companies have understood that they have to work together.
Fabian Stuckenbrock
“It is important to work together with science and to keep up with the times,” says Kohlbecher. Stuckenbrock wants to continue the collaboration and is also pleased with the developments in Tuttlingen. “The companies have understood that they have to work together.”
Rudolf Storz is set to continue to grow – technologically and in terms of personnel
Stuckenbrock’s plan is for the Rudolf Storz company to continue to grow – but on a healthy basis. “Nowadays, you have to grow,” he says. This applies to the vertical integration of production. “To do this, we need to bring in more technologies,” he explains. This also means an increase in the number of employees. “We will not be cutting staff, but will continue to hire,” emphasizes Stuckenbrock.
Rudolf Storz currently employs over 140 people from twelve nations and has a production area of 5500 square meters. (Photo: Rudolf Storz)
The managing director also wants to continue to rely on suppliers from Europe. “We want to keep it that way in order to ensure our ability to deliver.”
Material in stock is cheaper than machine downtime
There are no material shortages at Rudolf Storz. “We always try to have enough material in stock. The share of raw material costs is very low in comparison. Idle machines are more expensive than material in stock,” he says.
And what does he think about the more distant future? “The goal is, of course, that we will still be successful on the market in a few decades, bigger than we are now, with new products and having met our goals of delivery reliability and quality.”
For the first time there will be an open day
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The company will be showing what Rudolf Storz looks like today at an open day, which will be held for the first time in its 75-year history. During tours of the company, visitors can get an idea of everything from goods receipt to production and assembly, starting on Sunday, September 8th at 11 a.m.
