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Bosch Energy and Building Solutions Global
Sfm medical devices GmbH

“The solution must cater to the organization’s needs”

Sfm medical devices GmbH - a customer of Bosch Energy and Building Solutions Germany | Bosch Sicherheitssysteme GmbH

Sfm medical devices GmbH relies on integrated security solutions from Bosch – and thus meets the strict security requirements applicable to the medical industry as well as the high demands of the family business.

Functions

Reliable security, tailored to the internal processes

Transparent, efficient cost management with operator and rental models

Planning, construction, financing and operation of the complete security package in the hands of a reliable partner

sfm medical devices partner Bosch Energy and Building Solutions

At sfm medical devices, safety is a matter of course. The mid-sized family business based in Wächtersbach, in the heart of Germany, is a leading provider of medical and pharmaceutical technology. The sfm’s products are used in the fields of dermatology, pain therapy, and anesthesia.

As an industrial company operating in the medical technology sector, sfm has particularly high standards in this area and must meet numerous legal requirements. Alwin Greb, head of operating technology at sfm, draws the following conclusion: “This is why we are continuously modernizing our company in terms of safety technology.”

Adaptive techology

sfm employee alwin greb and drazen galic

“To stay competitive in the industry,” says Greb, “we needed a partner who was able to implement our safety vision.” sfm has found this ideal partner in Bosch – and has remained loyal to it. To date, the two companies’ partnership has already lasted for about ten years. “We always take a holistic approach to solution design. As regards our safety and security needs, this includes fire protection, building development planning, and security technology,” says Greb. Over the years, the company has worked with Bosch to refine these systems. Each reconstruction project meant that the fire alarm and intrusion alarm technology had to be adapted anew. After several cycles, the systems are now very well calibrated and fully functional. “That was a very dynamic process,” continues Greb. For example, whenever we needed to renovate the external facade, a Bosch technician was on site to bridge the systems, shut them down, and put them back into operation when the work was completed.

End-to-end carefree solution

Alwin Greb describes the Bosch solution as a comprehensive carefree package. This includes many networked individual components that converge in the respective management systems in technical facilities.

These include a fire alarm system with more than 500 automatic detectors and an uplink to the fire department, 13 surveillance cameras, a sensor gate at the main entrance, software for visitor management, a locking system with 20 online and 55 offline units linked to a visitor intercom system, the time recording system, and access control for all entrances.

Working time record Bosch
The solution from Bosch is tailored to the organization and processes of the customer.

This provides associates staffing the reception desk, for example, with an overview of the entire building complex via monitors. In addition, visitor management is handled using software. Admission is only granted to those who can prove their identity and are then registered in the system. The issued visitor badge is used to generate access via a card reader in the sensor gate. “The sensor gate is a good example of how Bosch, as a system integrator, provides a platform that integrates technologies from different manufacturers,” explains Drazen Galic, the sales representative in charge. “The visually appealing corridor is provided by another company, and the software and card reader are from us.”

Everybody knows the tasks at hand

In the sfm’s electrical department, there is a separate parallel control panel for the Bosch fire alarm system. Here, among other things, all fault messages are reported centrally – even those that have nothing to do with fire and are detected by the system of a Bosch partner. The following example clearly illustrates the key benefit of this solution: A Bosch partner system measures the turbidity of the drinking water in real time. Pure drinking water is essential for many production processes, such as tube cleaning. If the water turbidity reaches a certain threshold value, a corresponding signal is detected by a coupler, which sends a message to the remote control panel.

It then automatically informs the security team, which will know exactly what to do thanks to an action plan. If such an incident occurs outside working hours, the fault message is relayed to the Bosch control center, which is manned around the clock. It has intervention and instruction plans at the ready, knows sfm’s processes at a high level of detail, evaluates the situation, and will inform the responsible associates, the police, or the fire department in the event of an emergency. Bosch has fine-tuned this procedure to address any hazard situation, such as burglary or fire. However, the central system always collects the fault reports.

Model for flexible security

sfm relies on a flexible rental and operator model from Bosch that allows the company to operate state-of-the-art solutions now and in the future. After all, technology becomes obsolete all too soon: “This operator model allows us to stay up to date at all times,” explains Greb, adding, “and this means we can ensure that the solution suits our organization in the long term and helps us stay flexible.”

Due to the complexity of the security solution, it was important for Alwin Greb to have a single dedicated contact person at Bosch for technical planning and sales, rather than a separate one for each subsection. He was very pleased to be assigned Bosch specialist planner Stefan Petri and the sales representative Drazen Galic: “This is cooperation at its best.”