The origin of B. Braun in Spain goes back to 1955. A collaboration between the Braun and Knuth families, the latter of German origin, led to an agreement to supply from Rubí catgut cord made from the intestines of cows for producing surgical sutures. Initially known for this reason as 'Can Tripes', the company is today still a family firm, and since 1992 has been the exclusive property of the Braun family. However, it is no longer a small operation but is part of a multinational group that operates in 60 countries, with almost 56,000 employees, a wide range of products and is a leader in the supply of products for use in hospitals.
"Today, 'Can Tripes', which has been in Rubí for more than 60 years on the Terrassa road, has become a modern production plant with almost 2,000 workers and 75,000 square metres, and is the centre of strategic decision making for Spain, Portugal and Latin America," says Jesús Donado‐Mazarrón, CEO of B. Braun Medical International, and Manuel Jiménez, director of Projects and Institutional Relations, and the company's former CEO. Today, Group B. Braun develops therapeutic solutions for use in hospitals, outside hospitals and in the veterinary sector. It manufactures and sells pharmaceutical and healthcare products made in plants in Europe, Asia, the USA, Latin America and Africa.
"The Rubí plant was a gradual process. It began with the manufacture of catgut cords, later it added parenteral solutions, years later it widened its range to include single-use products and so, gradually, it continually expanded," say the B. Braun representatives. And they add: "Rubí was chosen for the plant because it is on the outskirts of Barcelona and close to the main motorway routes providing access to Europe." In Rubí, the industrial activity is focused on the production of serums, water-soluble medicines and products for treating wounds, specifically surgical sutures. The Group as a whole manufactures a wide range of single-use healthcare products, surgical instruments, prostheses and dressings, among other things. The range of B. Braun's 5,000 products today includes more than 120,000 separate models.
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| B.Braun production plant. Ceded |
Objective: Continue growing
After 175 years, "the company is experiencing a period of growth," according to the two spokesmen. Despite the crisis, B. Braun Rubí has seen the highest levels of industrial investment in its history, while maintaining important industrial modernisation projects. At the same time, the Group has other expansion and growth projects underway. To reach this point, the key has been "creating a team of competent and committed professionals, investing in training and R&D, incorporating technology, automating processes, growing exports and being close to medical professionals." In other words, the reason for its success is down to "being attentive to the needs of the health sector and working alongside health professionals to improve the quality of care."
The Group's turnover is over 6 billion euros, and in Latin Ameria and the Iberian Peninsula, their area of responsibility, it is around 800 million euros. "The company has continued to increase its volume of business with the incorporation of new markets and support for new treatments," says the representatives. It has also grown in Corporate Social Responsibility. One of the organisation's main values is sustainability: caring for the environment, balancing work and family life, support for personal development, ethical behaviour and aiding social projects aimed at children, among other things. On both the local and international scale the company provides support for worthy causes.
Equality and flexibility at work
According to the latest figures there are 1,811 employees at B. Braun Rubí, 911 men and 900 women, which is the result of an equality policy in the workplace. "In the technical and administrative areas we pay no attention to the gender of the professionals, only to their competence and attitude towards their responsibilities. Jobs in the areas of production and logistics are open to anyone, but candidates tend to belong to one gender or the other as a natural consequence of the type of work," they say.
Moreover, the company fosters the balancing of work and personal life in different ways: with flexible hours, family-friendly timetables and reduced working days, among others.
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| B.Braun's production room for parenteral solutions. Ceded |
New challenges
The company's future projects are currently focused on "continuing to invest in the development of products and services, continuing to opt for technology and automation, opening new markets, establishing agreements and improving the sector. The future is an interconnected world in movement to which one has to make a contribution to get something back," point out the two heads.
They are also planning to open new centres. They recently opened a new dialysis centre in Martorell and a production centre for personalised parenteral diets in Madrid. The new production centre for pharmaceutical products in Rubí, meanwhile, is finished with the installation of four new production lines and with space for two or three additional ones that will be opened in the next few years.