Originally Published EMDM March/April 2005
Industry News
Microtechnology Centre Helps Rebuild Former Steel City
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| MST.factory Dortmund is scheduled to open this spring in the northwest German city. |
Manufacturers seeking micromachining services, miniature sensors, and other very small products will soon have a single-sourcing option in Dortmund, Germany.
Formerly known for its steel mill, Dortmund has reinvented itself as a hub for microtechnology. Expected to open in spring 2005, MST.factory Dortmund is being built on a former blast furnace site. The 21,000-sq-ft centre is designed for small- and medium-sized microtechnology enterprises, as well as start-up companies. In addition to offering office space, laboratories, and cleanroom facilities, the facility provides prototyping, development work, and consulting in nano- and microtechnology.
MST.factory Dortmund is part of a public-private partnership that aims to create 70,000 jobs in the city by 2010. When steelmaker ThyssenKrupp AG closed down its Dortmund blast furnaces in 1998, many jobs were eliminated, but the firm started to diversify. “I was asked to create companies in telecom and mobile communications,” says Hans-Rudolf Folle, MST.factory Dortmund’s chief executive. “I wrote papers for getting the MEMS industry to Dortmund. We wanted to create other jobs.”
The recruitment of microtech firms intensified in 1999, when city officials and ThyssenKrupp hired management consultants McKinsey & Co. to research available opportunities. In June 2000, the dortmund-project was officially launched, its goal being to offer MEMS, logistics, and information technology firms a cooperative corporate location.
Dortmund now has 26 microsystems firms, according to Christine Neuy, managing director of trade group IVAM Microtechnology Network, which has promoted the activities of its member companies at Medica and other trade fairs focusing on the medical and electronics industries.
Four of the companies presently located in the MST.factory Dortmund’s temporary facility will move into the new centre. Among the companies is MMS Micro Machining Service GmbH, which manufactures custom miniature components as well as microstructured functional components for use in medical devices and other applications. Other firms include Intacton GmbH, offering miniaturized optical sensors; SES Entwicklung GmbH, an electronics and sensor technology firm; and NL Nanosemiconductor GmbH.
For more information on MST.factory Dortmund, contact Thomas Richter, Emil-Figge-Str. 80, D-44227 Dortmund, Germany; phone: +49 231 9742258; fax: +49 231 9742837; e-mail: info@mst-factory.com; Internet: www.mst-factory.com.
Copyright ©2005 European Medical Device Manufacturer
