Dr. Bernd Kalkert (from Germany), Head of Product Supply Vice General Manager BHC / BSP China
Bayer Healthcare Co. Ltd’s plant in Beijing was established in 1997 in BDA. Since its opening, our plant has made great progress. Its robust production and sales philosophy have enabled it to gain a lead position in the development of the parent Bayer Healthcare group. In 2005, exit-factory sales of Bayer Healthcare (BHC) Beijing plant reached 1.1 billion yuan, swiftly topped by 1.5 billion yuan in 2006. One year later, it amounted to 2.3 billion yuan.
In order to boost its production capacity, an extension project for the Beijing plant was launched in August 2006. With strong supports from BDA, the project was successfully completed in October 2008. The factory’s production capacity increased four folds following its expansion and is now equipped with state-of-the-art technology, including the fastest medicine packing production line in both China and the whole Asia-pacific area, allowing for a product throughput of 800 blisters per minute.
Last year its production in China increased by almost 50 percent. Glucobay, the company’s lead product, became the treatment of choice for diabetic sufferers in China. Additionally, the plant has also established 16 product lines. The plant is now confidently predicting exit-factory sales of 5 billion yuan for 2010.
Our company has been maintaining a good relationship with the various administrative offices of BDA, especially Bureau of Supervision & Management for Safe Manufacture, Bureau of Transportation, Firefighting Brigade, Sub-bureau of Public Security, Bureau of Testing & Epidemic Control, Bureau of Environmental Protection and Bureau of Construction Development.
It has also enjoyed the provision of high quality utilities, including gas, electricity and water, at reduced rates thanks to the efforts of BDA. BHC has also been one of the many companies based in the area to take advantage of the BDA’s training sessions on security protocols and the handling of hazardous chemical materials. The staff of BDA really cares about us. No matter what difficulties we encounter, BDA has always lent a timely hand. Our company has also been recognized as a model business in terms of its safety precautions and fire protection standards.
I’ve worked in Germany, the United States and China for many years and this is my fifth year working in the BDA. If you asked me to make a comparison of the services provided in all of those places, I would have to say that the BDA is the best and has given us huge support for all of our developments. The management team of the BDA is highly responsible and their work is extremely professional.
I sincerely hope that the BDA and Bayer Healthcare will continue to jointly develop in the future and maintain their successful alliance.