CeramTec's broad diversification

The CeramTec Group, a leading international supplier and develop-er of special solutions based on advanced ceramics, produces well over 10,000 highly specialized products, components and systems for the medical technology, automotive, electronics, environment and medical devices. CeramTec, with its Medical and Industrial divisions, operates internationally with approximately 3,500 employees at locations in Europe, the USA and Asia, with the US and Chinese markets becoming increasingly important. In the last fiscal year 2019, the company achieved sales of 620.4 million Euros.

As a globally leading technology group, CeramTec develops and manufactures innovative solutions made of Technical Ceramics, which are often used where other materials reach their limits. Thanks to the diverse properties of high-performance ceramics, which range from biocompatible, extremely hard, wear-resistant, chemically stable to high temperature resistant, the different material types with their specif-ic profiles can be used for high-tech applications, in a huge application scope from inside the human body through industrial production all the way to space applications.

“Last year we saw strong demand for highly specialized ceramic solu-tions that are developed for customer-specific applications and across industries,” says Dr. Hadi Saleh, CEO of the CeramTec Group. “With our two divisions Medical and Industrial, we are consistently pursuing a broad diversification of applications and focus on customized system solutions.”

Extensive spectrum of applications for Industrial

The Industrial Division, which generated more than half of total sales, is active in all sectors from automotive, medical technology and elec-tronics to mechanical and plant engineering. The division’s focus is on solutions for customer-specific applications, developed in close coop-eration with the customer.

CeramTec ceramic solutions can be found where requirements are high and challenging. During the current corona pandemic, medical technology products also play an important role, for example dipping molds for medical glove production. Or components used in dialysis and respiratory equipment.

Medical – very successful in the production of ceramic components in hip joint implants

The focus of the Medical division is on the development and produc-tion of ceramic components for orthopedics, such as hip joint ball heads and inserts made of the material BIOLOX^®delta. Here ceramics impress with their excellent biological behavior, excellent biocompati-bility and abrasion resistance, but also with their greater durability and corrosion resistance compared to metal alloys such as cobalt chrome.

Half of all hip prostheses implanted worldwide already contain ceramic components. In Germany, ceramic joints are nowadays used in over 80% of all hip operations. BIOLOX^® ceramic joints have also been ap-proved in the USA by the American FDA (Food and Drug Administra-tion) since 2003. To date, more than 18 million CeramTec ceramic hip components have been delivered to medical technology suppliers worldwide in the last decades. CeramTec ceramic solutions are also used in other implants such as knee prostheses and spine applica-tions, and as implants in dentistry.