Jan Bendier with Harro Hoefliger
Industrial Talk is onsite at MD&M West and talking to Jan Bendier, Business Development Manager at Harro Hoefliger about “From lab to production”.
Overview
The conversation features Scott MacKenzie from the Industrial Talk podcast, discussing the MD&M West event in Anaheim, California, with Jan from Harro. Jan, originally from Germany, has been with Harro for 10 years and is currently based in California. Harro specializes in automation equipment for the pharma, medical, and biotech industries, focusing on custom applications and the “from lab to production” approach. They have been in business since 1975 and maintain a strong presence in the US market. Jan highlights the trend towards self-administration in healthcare and Harro's use of AI for predictive maintenance. Listeners are encouraged to connect with Jan on LinkedIn and attend MD&M West 2027.
Outline
Introduction to Industrial Talk Podcast
- Industrial Talk, sponsored by MD&M West and the News and Brews team.
- Scott Mackenzie, welcomes listeners to the Industrial Talk podcast, highlighting his dedication to industry innovations and trends.
- Scott emphasizes the importance of celebrating industry professionals who solve problems and innovate daily.
- The podcast is broadcasting live from MD&M West in Anaheim, California, focusing on manufacturing and industry solutions.
Introduction to Jan and Harro
- Scott mentions the opportunity to meet industry leaders like Jan from Harro at MD&M West.
- Jan expresses his enjoyment of the conference and the positive traffic so far.
- Scott and Speaker 3 discuss the dynamic nature of the manufacturing industry and the importance of being prepared for such events.
- Jan provides a brief background on Jan, including his origin in Germany and his current role in business development for Harro.
Harro's Unique Approach to Automation
- Jan explains that Harro specializes in building automation equipment for the pharma, medical, and biotech industries.
- Harro's unique approach involves focusing on niche, custom applications rather than standard solutions.
- The company's credo, “from lab to production,” allows them to scale up from small-scale proof-of-concept work to high-throughput commercial lines.
- Scott seeks clarification on how Harro caters to specific customer needs, and Jan provides an example with auto injectors.
Harro's Market Strategy and Custom Solutions
- Jan elaborates on Harro's market strategy, emphasizing their ability to handle custom solutions and their long-standing presence in the US market.
- Harro designs and builds equipment in Germany, with a well-established sales and service operation in the US.
- Scott highlights the importance of nimbleness in responding to market challenges, which Harro excels at due to their custom solutions.
- Jan mentions Harro's local approach, ensuring quick reaction times and good feedback from customers.
Harro's History and Market Trends
- Jan shares that Harro was founded in 1975 by its current chairman's father and remains a privately held family business.
- Scott notes the prevalence of German companies in the high-tech, niche market, and praises their capabilities.
- Jan identifies a general market trend towards self-administration, particularly in parenteral devices and point-of-care testing.
- Scott agrees, emphasizing the importance of efficient healthcare delivery and patient decision-making.
Harro's Entry into AI and Maintenance Services
- Jan discusses Harro's entry into the AI space, focusing on developing additional services for equipment maintenance.
- Harro uses AI to analyze components like servo drives, predicting their lifetime and identifying potential issues.
- Scott confirms that Harro also provides maintenance services, leveraging data analysis to optimize equipment performance.
- Jan reiterates the importance of maintenance in ensuring the reliability and efficiency of equipment.
Conclusion and Contact Information
- Scott encourages listeners to reach out to Jan via LinkedIn for further discussions.
- Scott emphasizes the importance of attending events like MD&M West to stay updated on industry innovations.
- Scott wraps up the podcast, highlighting the value of human connections and storytelling in the industry.
- The podcast concludes with a reminder to put MD&M West 2027 on the calendar and to stay tuned for more conversations.
If interested in being on the Industrial Talk show, simply contact us and let's have a quick conversation.
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JAN BENDIER'S CONTACT INFORMATION:
Personal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-bendier/
Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/harro-h-fliger/
Company Website: https://hoefliger.com/
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Transcript
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
MD&M West, industrial innovation, automation equipment, pharma, medical, biotech, custom applications, lab to production, self-administration, auto injectors, AI maintenance, family business, manufacturing solutions, news and brews, podcast.
Hey, this episode of Industrial Talk is proudly brought to you by MD&M West and the incredible news and brews team. MD&M West delivered big medtech automation, packaging, plastics and design all came together under one roof, the innovation, the energy, the conversation, it was everything that makes this industry extraordinary. I was on the floor, capturing the stories, the breakthroughs and the leaders who are shaping the future. Thanks for tuning in and celebrating the people driving industrial innovation. Industrial Talk powered by MD&M West and the news and brews team.
Welcome to the Industrial Talk podcast with Scott Mackenzie. Scott is a passionate industry professional dedicated to transferring cutting-edgeindustry focused innovations and trends while highlighting the men and women who keep the world moving. So put on your hard hat, grab your work boots, and let's go all right,
an opportunity to be here in:I love the intro.
Yeah. It was great. Remember. So he just comes by, and apparently it was one of those conversations where, hey, Jan, you're gonna go over here, and then Jan, you're gonna be talking about that, and that's pretty much it. So we're catching them, we're catching them new and all that stuff.
Yeah, awesome. Yes. So
you
having a good conference? I'm having a really good conference. Yes, it was a, was a great year. First day, second day, really good traffic. We'll see what the final day brings for us. We're halfway through and where
you guys located.
We are right in between the hallway of what's that?
This is a, a
and b, then b, I guess.
Yeah, that's, do they call them halls? I always thought they called them concourses. It's, it's a little bit bigger,
either way, right in between those two. And, yeah, good spot. We liked it.
Yeah, I got to tell you, especially in the world of manufacturing and what we're doing here, and what people are showing and the conversations we're having, it's pretty dynamic. It's a lot of fun.
Yeah, I mean, it's, it's a it can be pretty overwhelming if you're not you,
because you're young and smart.
Yeah, it's
like me, yeah, it's easy to get overwhelmed. Yeah,
I'll take that.
Take it to the bank. You definitely want to take it to the bank. Give us a little background on who Jan is.
Absolutely, yeah. Scott, thanks again for having me here. It's a pleasure. So maybe quickly to the person, Jan, I'm originally, born and raised in Germany, I came over to the US specifically, yeah, California. About three years
in California, three
years up north.
No, okay,
started two years in the San Francisco Bay Area, Walnut Creek, and then just about a year ago, moved up a little bit further north Fairfield.
Yeah,
our US, subsidiary is over at the East Coast, so I'm the lonely warrior in business development out here on Pacific time.
No, no kidding.
Yeah, and so far, it's,
that's the way you like it.
It's a pleasant journey. Yeah, it's great. It's great. I'm, I mean, I'm with the company for 10 years, ever since I started my professional life. Harold. Been an amazing company, and that's why I'm excited to continue the journey and keep building the US West Coast market. For us,
I like that. Is this the first time you've been at this event?
Personally, for me, it's the third time.
Ah, okay, that's cool.
Hold on. It's actually the fourth time already. Yeah, kicked
it off. I was gonna help you with the math. I was gonna say, Oh, you're on your own. You could have just sort of left it at three, and everybody would have said, Fine, no big deal. It's three years. Could have been 510, doesn't matter. Three years, we're all good. All right, you need to tell us what Harro does just, just in general, the company itself. Then let's dive into what the challenges and problems that that you see in the market and what is being addressed by Harro. There you go. That's a two for question. Start with the first one. Tell us what that company is all
about. Yeah, so Harro in general. Of course, we're here because we're building automation equipment. We're focusing on pharma, medical, medical and biotech.
And
that's also what's what's making Haro special in the first place, is we're not specialized on on one thing. We got 15 different market segments, all within those three, pharma, medical, biotech, and what separates Haro from other conventional equipment manufacturers is that we always tended to head towards the niche, towards the custom applications. When I used to have a colleague saying, when, when when others start crying, we start engineering. I typically don't say that because I think it's a little bit arrogant. Actually, it defines it pretty well. So when others say, Hey, this is too custom for us. Yeah, we're rather going down the pathway of standardization to stay efficient. And yeah,
yeah,
yeah. Haro very often in the past, decided to take a different route, which certainly is more risk, but also a lot of potential. And we have our one of our main credos is from lab two production. So we really take that started with a small scale, very often, proof of principle, proof of concept work, and then we are in a position to scale it up to high throughput commercial lines, and it's applicable for every single market segment that we are addressing. And I think this is what Haro what makes Haro unique
in the world of the services that you provide? So let me see if I understand this. If I'm Scott pharmaceuticals and I'm and I'm I'm developing a specific product requiring specific needs and handling whatever it might be, and I know that it's there's not a ability to be able to grab the standard type of solutions, whatever I just I can come to Haro and say, Hey, this is my my this is what I'm thinking about, and be able to have a conversation with you, and you would take me through that journey and being able to sort of deliver on what I'm what I'm requesting.
Yeah, no, absolutely. We can. We can, we can make a little bit more specific example here. Let's say Scott Pharma is looking into launching its new auto injector. Now, there are a lot of established platforms on the market. You can choose from. Not to be too specific, but let's say you choose one of the existing ones, and then you have to start a small scale, of course. So what I said earlier, from lab to production, if we take that auto injector example, we have a platform called the a lab, which basically helps you walking two to three parts per minute, and then when your project is really picking up, then we got commercial scale solutions, full turnkey, 600 parts per minute, which is especially nowadays in the GLP one space. Yeah.
Yeah. Does your organization look at the market itself. You know, I might have an idea, and I might I think that it's, it's great. You still have to sell it. You still have to put a do you find? Do you stop at the engineering and the be able to sort of create that, and then let somebody else deal with the marketing side. What are like the sales side? Is it needed out there, that type of thing?
I'm not sure if I understand, but we definitely come up with the concepts ourselves. We build the machines, yeah, ourselves. So the machines are being built and designed in Germany. So. South Germany. So far we run in the US, a sales and service operation for 32 years now, about 40 people out here in the US. But we also keep ramping up the operational aspect. So it looks like rather sooner than later, we will also stop building equipment in the US, but currently design and built in Germany, and then we got the Sales and Service here in the US, very well established since 30 plus years.
How do you? How do you well? It bodes well for a very dynamic market that you are able to do these customs solutions, this ability to be able to manufacture unique, unique solutions. That bodes well for you from a manufacturing perspective, because you're a manufacturer of this equipment, too, as well, to be able to be nimble and to be able to respond to the markets that it's like, hey, now we need this. Now we need that. It exists. It's, just seems like, from a from your perspective, being nimble and being able to respond to those market challenges, because that's what's happening out here is right in your wheelhouse. You can do that.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, we follow our locals for locals approach in the first place, make sure we have quick reaction times. And this is also part of the reason why the company decided send me out here. Make sure we start establishing being local on Pacific time more. And this was very well appreciated by our customers over the past two to three years already, we got really good feedback on that, which I'm happy about.
Yeah. HARO, how long has horrible been a business
founded in:geez.
unfortunately passed away in:It's funny. I just, this is a side note. I've had so many conversations here, and you know how many companies are from Germany that they just, they just excel at this, this high tech, very niche, specific capabilities that are needed in the market. But they just, there's so many. It's like, oh, Germany again. You guys knock it out of the park. I'll tell you that much right out about so with your Harro hat on, where do you see? You're looking at the market. Where do you see the opportunities begin to grow for you? What's happening out there in the market that you see that's that's unique, that's different. I'm sure you have some ideas of what's taken place.
Yeah. I mean, without being too specific, I think a general market trend that's been visible for many months already, is that it's very much driving towards self administration. If you, for example, talk about parenteral devices, you want to make sure that the patient can treat themselves rather easily. That's why you have the strong push towards the auto injectors. If you look at another industry, the diagnostics, you see that as well, where it's more and more point of care testing taking place, making sure that the patients don't need to go to the hospital, but rather us in a position to get easy access to the tests or, in the end, the drug administration. Yeah, that's a that's a huge trend in general that we're seeing,
yeah, I would imagine. Because I think the focus on health care and being able to be more efficient at the delivery of that care is, and I, I suspect I can be, but to be able to put more of the the decision making into the hands of the patients, and whatever it might be, help to facilitate that through tools, techniques and and solutions and diagnostics, I think, is just a real benefit,
yeah,
how I have to ask the question, just because, well, I have to ask the question, tell us is, is your company sort of diving into the AI space? What?
Yeah, what I mean? Of course, as many other companies, we have also our Digital Solutions division where we started to develop additional services, to be precise, in our end, what's always very important for the companies that, in the end, operate our equipment. So whether it's in house manufacturing,
yeah,
the end customer side, or whether they are using a contract manufacturing organization, the maintenance of the equipment is always
good. Point. No, go ahead. I wanted to ask, I was going to ask you about maintenance? Go ahead,
yeah, yeah, maintenance is key. And what we see is that you can use AI to to, let's say, further, analyze certain components of the system, for example, servo drives or whatever. And you can predict the lifetime of those a little bit better. Yeah. We can basically say, okay, something, something's wrong at that station. We might want to double check, because if we continue to keep running like that, the servo drive is going to go down in X weeks.
Yeah, you just taking, you're pulling data off the assets. You're analyzing that data, putting it through some sort of an algorithm to be able to determine the overall health of that asset, and then be able to have sort of a tactical approach to when you need to perform that maintenance. And hHarro apparently does that maintenance too as well.
Yeah,
calendar. If you're not here:You're listening to the Industrial Talk Podcast Network.
is event on your calendar for:
About the author, Scott
I am Scott MacKenzie, husband, father, and passionate industry educator. From humble beginnings as a lathing contractor and certified journeyman/lineman to an Undergraduate and Master’s Degree in Business Administration, I have applied every aspect of my education and training to lead and influence. I believe in serving and adding value wherever I am called.
