Originally posted: June 24, 2020
Last updated: June 24, 2024
Focused ultrasound companies rely on equipment manufacturers to provide the high-tech, high quality components when building their transducers and peripheral systems. PI Ceramic is a German company that fabricates one of the most critical parts of a focused ultrasound – or any type of ultrasound – machine: the piezoceramic elements that vibrate to produce the ultrasound. We interviewed Annemarie Oesterle, Segment Marketing Manager Medical Technology at PI Ceramic to learn more about this dynamic company.
What is the name of the company and what is your business?
PI Ceramic GmbH develops and produces high-quality piezo components for actuator, transducer, and sensor applications. We offer more than 30 years of experience in the field of piezo technology – from piezoceramic material development and production to fully customized piezo solutions.
Where is the company headquartered? Are there any additional locations?
PI Ceramic is located in Lederhose in the center of Germany. The company is affiliated with Physik Instrumente (PI), the market and technology leader for high-precision positioning technology, with headquarters in Karlsruhe, Germany. Our 16 worldwide subsidiaries serve high tech markets in the US, Europe, and Asia. Currently, there are more than 1,600 employees in the PI group.
How was the company started?
PI Ceramic was founded in 1992, originally as an internal supplier of piezoceramics to our headquarters – PI. At that time, PI already boasted more than 20 years of experience in motion positioning technology. From the start, PI has been the market leader for piezo-based positioning solutions. To meet their increasing demand, PI decided to produce the incorporated piezo elements exclusively for its own products, essentially gaining independence from external piezo suppliers. Thus, with only five employees, the success story of PI Ceramic began. The company has since evolved beyond its origins, and today, PI Ceramic employs more than 420 professionals. Our internal supply to PI comprises only 20 percent of our annual turnover of more than EUR 47 million (in 2022); the remaining 80 percent of our business is derived from external piezo customers covering markets such as medical technology, industrial ultrasonic technology, and precision dosing.
How did you get involved in joining the company?
I joined PI Ceramic in 2018 as a product manager. After completing my Master’s degree in Materials Sciences and gaining four years of experience in fundamental research in the field of ceramics, PI Ceramic was the ideal place to apply and consolidate this know-how in an industrial environment. I am now in charge of the Marketing Division.
Tell us about your company structure.
PI Ceramic is owned by PI GmbH & Co. KG. Our managing director is Patrick Pertsch. The company is structured in five product divisions: ceramic materials, piezo components, piezo devices, piezo multilayer actuators, and a tech center for special solutions. Within these departments, more than 100 dedicated engineers work on our piezo solutions.
Customized development and investigation of new piezo materials is executed in the ceramic materials division. Piezo plates, discs, rings and tubes with customized electrode materials and structures are common products that can be manufactured from small quantities to series with up to several million pieces per year from our piezo components division. In the piezo devices department, ceramic components are used for the production of assembled subsystems, transducers, and stacked actuators. Our patented PICMA® Piezo Multilayer Actuators are developed and manufactured in the multilayer division. The tech center specializes in small series production, which requires new technology and special interdivisional know-how. Piezo spheres, hemispheres, miniaturized piezos, piezo composites, HIFU transducer and free forms are produced in this unit.
In general, what is the current status of your company?
PI Ceramic has experienced amazing growth in recent years. We doubled our sales within five years, between 2016 and 2021, with an annual turnover of about €50 million . We are in a stable situation, and we are preparing for the future. In 2020, we put the fourth expansion of our company building into operation. We invested more than €15 million and added 50% to our space. We currently have 20,000 square meters of production and office space in total. To add functionality to the new space, the company is currently improving its technical infrastructure in terms of automated production lines as well as transducer characterization systems.
What does your company offer over other similar suppliers?
PI Ceramic is more than just a piezo supplier. We are located in a German region known for its historic ceramic development and processing know-how, and our engineering teams always try to make the impossible possible. Especially in terms of therapeutic and focused ultrasound, we are well equipped with experts in the field of transducer manufacturing. More importantly, PI Ceramic has more than 30 years of experience in assembling technology for piezo elements, enabling us to assemble even sophisticated transducers such as hemispherical array transducers. We have the perfect manufacturing environment and experience for medical technology products. More than 2,700 square meter ISO-class 7 and 8 clean rooms are at our disposal. We control the complete value chain up to assembled transducers at one site. We have the competencies and technologies to develop customized composites and arrays, to glue piezos onto substrates or membranes, contact them with laces, wires, or flexible PCBs, and house or encapsulate transducer sub-assemblies. Our tech center is manufacturing piezo hemispheres and focus bowls with customized specifications, such as structured electrodes or annular arrays. Finally, our lead-free piezoceramic material development is steadily progressing to be prepared for future needs.
Is there anything else we should know about your company?
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