Freudenberg Medical building US plant, headquarters

Beverly, Massachusetts – Freudenberg Group's medical division will build a 36,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing facility for medical devices and components in Beverly that also will serve as its global headquarters.

Based in Weinheim, Germany, the group will invest $3 million (€2.65 million) into the site north of Boston, where it has space to eventually expand with a 20,000-sq.-ft. addition.

"The Boston area is one of the leading medical device and biotech clusters in the world with a high concentration of universities and research centres," Max Kley, president and CEO of Freudenberg Medical, said in a 27 Nov news release.

"Our decision to expand here is a testament to the strong growth of Freudenberg Medical in this region and locating our global headquarters in Beverly demonstrates the global role and international orientation of the Boston med device cluster."

Freudenberg Medical has been producing silicone and thermoplastic parts in nearby Gloucester, Massachusetts, since 1989. The Gloucester operation will relocate to Beverly.

Construction will begin soon on the new facility with operations expected to begin in the second half of 2019 with an estimated 70 employees. The plant will be registered with the US Food and Drug Administration, ISO 13485 certified and have ISO Class 8 clean rooms for medical moulding and assembly.

Freudenberg's medical unit designs and manufactures components and tubing for minimally invasive, catheter and hand-held technology applications. The company got into the medical device market in 2006 with the acquisition of Helix Medical LLC, which specialised in complex catheter systems from design to production to packaging.

The group kept the well-known Helix brand name for years. In 2015, the division name was changed to Freudenberg Medical. The division currently has 11 manufacturing operations and more than 1,500 employees worldwide.