The Japan Times WORLD EYE REPORTS LOWER SAXONY
©THE JAPAN TIMES	Thursday, January 24, 2002

130-year-old goes on growth streak

The Sartorius Group has posted unprecedented growth over the last four years. During this time, the company acquired six additional brands, bringing its number of affiliates to eight: Sartorius, Acculab, Scaltec, Boekels, Vivascience, Denver Instruments, GWT, and B. Braun Biotech International.

Dr. Utz Claassen has quadrupled the company's turnover in Asia over the last four years.

The boardroom also assumed a new face made up of top-caliber managers from Germany, Italy, Canada, Belgium and other parts of the world. All are working together to further strengthen the company's international market presence. "We now have on average a younger team, a hungrier team, and certainly a more international and professional team," said Dr. Utz Claassen, chairman of the executive board and group CEO. Claassen himself is relatively new to Sartorius, having moved to the company just four years ago. It has been a phenomenal performance. "In the four years from 1997-2000 we have increased our added value in relation to the four years before that by 333 percent. We have increased our profit after tax by 999 percent," the executive boasted.

Group-wide restructuring, together with an already extensive global reach, have brought success to the Sartorius Group. In fact, Sartorius has grown to become the second largest biotechnology supplier in Germany. And, a new global strategy has only propelled the group to new heights.

"Today we have 58 companies in 27 countries and we have representations in more than 100 markets. Our export ratio is 80 percent. So, this is a global company not only in its structure but also in its customer base. We didn?t want to get a balanced mix by shrinking operations Europe, but rather by growing over-proportionately in Asia and North America, which we have done," explained Claassen.

In Asia, where Sartorius' total turnover has quadrupled over the last four years, Japan remains a crucial link to this development. "I myself have visited several Japanese customers over the years to show that they are very valuable even at headquarters level."

"Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi, president of Sartorius Japan, has worked in Singapore, Germany, Italy and Panama. He has worked in the most diverse regions in the world so he understands our way of thinking," Claasen added.

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