Indoor spaces for a better life for people with disabilities

Installation of the cleanroom ceiling

Central HVAC system with 45,000 m³/h, cooling unit with 1.3 MW, and transformer station

View into the 3 manufacturing rooms, each approximately 1,500 m²

View into the 3 manufacturing rooms, each approximately 1,500 m²

View into the 3 manufacturing rooms, each approximately 1,500 m²

Author: Dirk Steil, Managing Director BECKER Cleanroom Technology GmbH

More than 40 years ago, Manfred Sauer began developing aids for bladder incontinence following a swimming accident that resulted in a high spinal cord injury. Today, Manfred Sauer GmbH offers a wide range of aids that enable safe and individualized care. An extensive new building with cleanrooms of 4,500 m² has now been put into operation.

In 1974, Manfred Sauer started his own business with an employee, focusing on the condom-urinal he further developed for bladder incontinence. In 1982, he established a manufacturing facility in the Lobbach industrial area, where all components of this system are now produced. Additional production areas include catheter manufacturing and a clothing operation for fashionable apparel tailored to the constant sitting posture of wheelchair users. From these production sectors, a company has emerged with over 300 employees today.

The product range now includes self-adhesive urinal condoms, urine collection bags, and single-use catheters. An in-house laboratory not only ensures continuous quality control and development but also conducts sample immersions for special medical experiments. The brand products MANFRED SAUER are exported worldwide.

In addition, in 2001, Manfred Sauer founded a foundation under the motto "Promoting the Willingness to Perform of Paraplegics." In the spirit of the foundation's idea, willingness to perform means taking responsibility for one's own well-being, health, the immediate environment, and societal engagement. It is about taking life into one's own hands and actively shaping it.

As early as 2014, planning began for a new production facility for Manfred Sauer GmbH to meet the increasing market demand. The new building was intended to significantly expand production areas for catheter manufacturing and additional assembly capacities. The production of these catheters requires specialized manufacturing processes, which Manfred Sauer GmbH has developed themselves, including building the machines and control systems.

But not only the machines, also the production environment, must meet very specific requirements. The products are manufactured in cleanrooms of ISO classes 7 and 8 under defined climatic conditions. If the air in the manufacturing rooms becomes too humid, the catheter may no longer perform effectively during later use. Even under extreme external conditions, the cleanrooms must maintain relative humidity levels between 35% and 50% to ensure safe production. "Implementing this solution on 4,500 m² in a technically sound and economically attractive way was quite a challenge," said Dirk Steil, Managing Director of BECKER Cleanroom Technology.

BECKER Cleanroom Technology was commissioned at the end of 2014 to plan the cleanrooms. Together with the construction company, the goal was to design and implement a modern, energy-efficient, and cost-optimized cleanroom concept on a "greenfield" site. Six months later, BECKER was also tasked with executing the cleanrooms. In addition to constructing the cleanrooms themselves, Becker took on the complete installation of the heating system with 2x370 kW capacity and chimney, the MCR technology, the entire cooling system with approximately 1.3 MW capacity, and the climate control of the high-bay warehouses.

Now that the cleanroom has been completed, the complex manufacturing machines are being gradually assembled and brought into operation. Expansion capacities are also planned, setting the course for further growth of Manfred Sauer GmbH.