Sonion, a company originating from Denmark, has been operating in Szczecin and the surrounding area since the end of the 1990-ies. Sonion manufactures hearing aid components in the production facilities located in Mierzyn, in Szczecin at Łukasińskiego street and in Stargard Szczeciński. At present, considering its planned relocation to new premises in a two-tier building near Tama Pomorzańska, the Company intends to extend the scope of its business activity.

The new space, which will soon be ready for operations, is to be dedicated to producing high-tech medical equipment that will be used, among others, in innovative cancer treatment methods, biopsy tools and insulin dispensers. The building will cover the area of 3.5 thousand square meters and it will fully cater to the needs of medical manufacturing for instance, it will house a clean room, i.e. a completely sterile manufacturing area. The production will be launched in July.

Our interview with Piotr Bloch, the director of Sonion Polska

Why has your company decided to move to the new headquarters?

Our building in Mierzyn no longer fulfils our needs. First of all, the air conditioning and ventilation systems would have to to be remodelled in order to meet the requirements of our most recent production initiatives, which would be totally unprofitable.    The same thing goes for launching the clean room – the plant in Mierzyn does not meet the required norms, for example the ceiling is too low. Furthermore, it is also built as a sandwich structure, which our insurers are not happy about and admittedly, this type of construction as a whole is not most suitable for medical production. For those reasons we have sold the structure in Mierzyn to Oticon. The new building at Koksowa street is erected with the use of traditional technology which is fully compliant with, among others, the American standards (the company intends to manufacture medical equipment that will be sold in the U.S. – added by the editor). Among others, the representatives of the Food and Drug Administration will check the safety of the building.

Will the changing of the Company’s headquarters be accompanied by an increase in employment?

Yes. If we activate the clean room, we will automatically need to engage 25 – 30 employees. We also expect our production output to rise at least twice, which will trigger off new hires as well. I am convinced that at the beginning of the next year, the number of our staff will reach 200. At present, 140 persons work for our firm.

The building you plant to move to is not your property. Why don’t you buy your own premises?

We have singed a long-term lease contract with a pre-emptive right included. This right was counted among very important factors when we were looking for new premises, however the fact that someone else paid for the building proved decisive in the selection process. Were it any different, most likely, we would end in Stargard or Goleniów. Nonetheless, we are very interested in the possibility to buy the building.

What is the relation between Sonion and Oticon? They often seem to be confused.

We are not sure why we should be confused - Oticon is our customer and there are no other relations between the two firms, e.g. no shareholding links. Oticon manufactures hearing aids and sells them under its own brand. Our task is to produce electromechanical and electro-acoustical elements used in hearing aids. As far as the medical initiatives to be pursued in our new building are concerned, there is no connection.