Saint-Gobain Life Sciences announced the addition of their Suwa, Japan manufacturing facility for the production of C-Flex TPE tubing for use in bioprocessing. The capacity addition in Suwa is part of Saint-Gobain Life Sciences ongoing investment plan to globally expand production capacity for its products and services used throughout the bioprocessing industry.
“The Suwa site expansion further enhances our global manufacturing network, with a specific emphasis on supporting availability of our C-Flex® TPE tubing in Asia,” said Benjamin Le Quéré, Bioprocess Solutions business unit General Manager at Saint-Gobain Life Sciences. “With the completion of Suwa’s capability, we will have C-Flex production capacity in five separate facilities in four countries. This is a unique capability in TPE tubing for bioprocessing and it supports our mission to provide security of supply.”
Other C-Flex production facilities are in Clearwater and Largo, Florida, Charny, France and Bangalore, India, with a production facility in Hangzhou, China planned to come onstream in early 2023.
“We have been making substantial progress on improving C-Flex service levels and lead-times through Q2 of this year,” said Le Quéré. “The Suwa, Japan production capacity being added in Q4 and the addition of Hangzhou capacity in early 2023 will further strengthen our ability to meet the needs of the bioprocess industry.”
The C-Flex production expansion to the Saint-Gobain facility in Suwa, Japan is part of a multi-year manufacturing strategy, increasing Bioprocess Solutions business unit production capacity around the globe, creating redundant manufacturing capabilities across Europe, North America, and Asia to support increasing customer demand.
The Saint-Gobain Suwa facility has been in operation since 1992 and employs approximately 100 employees, providing production capability to multiple businesses within the Saint-Gobain Group.