Wild about Wilden
Plastics company helps people breathe easier
In 1993, German plastics giant WILDEN AG decided to open a plant in Peachtree City, Ga. By 2004, it had more than 3,000 square meters of production area, 800 of which were operating under clean room conditions. The site was close to an airport and a major interstate and was located in a flourishing community just south of Atlanta.
In other words, it was perfect.
However, back in Europe, other businesspeople were continually asking Hans Wilden, CEO of WILDEN AG, “Why Georgia?”
“We are always asked, ‘Why are you in Georgia?’” Wilden said during a recent visit to the Peachtree City facility. “I say, it is because in Georgia we are in good hands. We are in an environment that is suitable for our purposes, and Quick Start is a demonstration of that.”
The relationship between Quick Start and WILDEN Plastics goes back more than 10 years. Even before the Peachtree City facility opened, Quick Start’s training professionals traveled to the WILDEN Plastics plant in Pfreimd, Germany, and studied the processes that would eventually be transferred to Georgia.
To aid in the plant’s startup, Quick Start experts developed training materials covering plastic injection molding, quality inspection, clean room standards, and many more processes and technologies required for manufacturing the company’s precision medical and automotive components.
In 2003, WILDEN decided to expand and add a new product line in Peachtree City, and Quick Start again was available to help the company keep its jobs in Georgia. The team visited WILDEN facilities in Germany multiple times to study the processes needed to manufacture innovative products, especially the “HandiHaler®,” a new device used to deliver medication for individuals with breathing problems. The HandiHaler® is produced by WILDEN AG for Boehringer Ingelheim, a leading pharmaceutical company which developed the device.
“Quick Start has been great,” said Greg Greer, plant engineer at the Peachtree City facility. “Getting all the equipment here and getting it all set up and the logistics of getting a line operating takes all your time, so to have Quick Start available to develop training is invaluable.”
Greer noted that before production of a medical device can begin, the process has to be validated by the Food and Drug Administration.
“An important part of the validation process is the documentation, and that’s another area where Quick Start has helped us meet every level of qualification so far.”
Quick Start’s team did a detailed analysis of the production of the HandiHaler®, which is manufactured using a new, completely automated process that assembles up to one million of the devices each month. The analysis of the process allows any new employee to quickly understand the manufacturing process, which has to take place in a 100,000-class clean room environment.
“Our breakdown of the process lets us design and construct training materials that will show anyone how the operation works and also how to monitor critical machine areas for quality control,” said Joe Bailey, director of Quick Start’s western operations.
Not only did the documentation produced by Quick Start help WILDEN get approval for producing the new devices, it also set a new standard for WILDEN’s whole international operation, which includes plants in many countries, including United Arab Emirates, the Czech Republic and China. The establishment of the company’s Georgia operation proved to be a model for the corporation.
“The first challenge was how do we transfer our knowledge from Germany over here, and the answer has been Quick Start,” said Wilden. “But also, the documentation that Quick Start has developed has been unique to what I have seen.”
Wilden explained how valuable documenting the production process is for ensuring the quality of the product and for training new employees. Quick Start’s methodology involves a detailed analysis of the production process in order to highlight not only the steps in production, but also the key points where quality checks must take place in order to guarantee a safe product.
In fact, the training process and documentation proved useful as WILDEN presented itself to Boehringer Ingelheim.
“We showed them the process of training we go through, thanks to Quick Start, and they saw how this guarantees the quality of what we produce,” said Heinz Dierselhuis, director of operations at the Peachtree City facility. “Our customers are interested in seeing our quality control training because then they feel safe with the products.”
“It is so profound what Quick Start is doing,” Wilden added. “The advantages of Quick Start’s methods are that they can be used in so many areas. Quick Start has invented a new technology of training that is superior to anything that I have seen in Europe.”
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