KARL STORZ Industrial Group: Establishment of a joint venture strengthens the industrial endoscopy division

Tuttlingen, 01/23/2018: Together with the company NDTec AG headquartered in Walsdorf, Germany, the endoscopy specialist KARL STORZ SE & Co. KG, which operates the three divisions Human Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, and the Industrial Group, is establishing a joint venture to strengthen its industrial endoscopy division. By combining the expertise of both partners, KARL STORZ aims to advance its product range for industrial use in a future-oriented manner. The new subsidiary KARL STORZ NDTec GmbH headquartered in Walsdorf (Bamberg County, Germany) will start operations on 01 April 2018.

KARL STORZ SE & Co. KG will own more than 75% of the new company KARL STORZ NDTec GmbH. KARL STORZ is contributing to the new company the international customer base it has established for 40 years, the associated sales and dealer network, and in particular its high quality product range as well as the corresponding manufacturing capacity of the KARL STORZ production sites. NDTec AG, on the other hand, stands for proven industry knowledge in the area of non-destructive testing, the main field of application of industrial endoscopy, combined with development expertise focused on the specific needs of industrial customers. The joint venture aims to combine the strength and experience of KARL STORZ as a global player with the agility and innovativeness of NDTec. For industrial customers in fields such as the aerospace and automotive industries, the energy and security sector, or quality assurance, KARL STORZ NDTec will stand for continuity, quality "Made in Germany", reliable customer service, and innovative product development.

"We are certain that with this step, we can considerably improve the growth of our products in industrial applications. The establishment of the joint venture is an important investment in the future of our Industrial Group", says Karl-Christian Storz, managing director of KARL STORZ SE & Co. KG. "This partnership allows the focused further development of industrial endoscopy at KARL STORZ under new framework conditions. Our over 70 years of expertise in endoscopy combined with the industry knowledge of our partner NDTec AG will contribute to a significant boost in growth. With the joint venture, we accept the challenge to become an even better partner to our customers. Our goal is to expand on achievements and build new strengths. We will strengthen our proactive and future-oriented product range development to even better support our customers in solving problems through appropriate visualization and measuring systems.”

Thomas Weinberger and Rainer Zibuschka, who currently work for NDTec AG, have been appointed managing directors of KARL STORZ NDTec GmbH. Both are recognized experts and internationally networked industry insiders in the area of non-destructive testing. "We are happy that with KARL STORZ, we are cooperating with a partner who enjoys a good reputation on the international market" states the future managing director of KARL STORZ NDTec GmbH, Thomas Weinberger, and his colleague Rainer Zibuschka adds: "We consider the synergy of experience, market presence, and innovativeness a classic win-win situation."

Currently, KARL STORZ employs 15 staff members in the field of industrial endoscopy at its Tuttlingen headquarters and 25 at subsidiaries abroad. This restructuring is not associated with any job cuts. Instead, an appropriate development perspective will be jointly developed for each employee individually, either at the KARL STORZ parent company or at the new subsidiary.

"The non-destructive testing market is a very competitive one that we will be able to address even more specifically in the new partnership", states Dr. h. c. mult. Sybill Storz, managing director and chair of the supervisory board of KARL STORZ SE & Co. KG. "More than 90% of the sales of the KARL STORZ Group are generated in the medical area. However, we are certain that endoscopic technology is still well below potential in the industrial sector. With the industrial endoscopy division, which we have operated successfully since the late 1970s, we have fortunately reached a size threshold that now requires this further specialization. The pooling of resources within a newly established joint venture allows us to add weight to the industrial division and strengthen its position with respect to the competition."

In the coming months, the structures of the joint venture will be established in collaboration with the staff members of both partner companies, and customers and dealers will be informed of changed responsibilities. "In this transition phase, it is important to us to prepare for the new challenges, in dialog with our staff members. Of course, we will always keep customers and business partners informed about all steps in a timely manner as well", stresses Karl-Christian Storz.

About KARL STORZ SE & Co. KG, Tuttlingen

KARL STORZ is one of the leading suppliers of endoscopes, endoscopic instruments, and devices for more than 20 specialties in human medicine as well as for veterinary medicine and industrial applications. The family company was founded by Dr. med. h. c. Karl Storz in Tuttlingen, Germany, in 1945. Under the leadership of Dr. h. c. mult. Sybill Storz and Karl-Christian Storz, nearly 2800 people currently work at the KARL STORZ headquarters in Tuttlingen, and the company has a total of 7500 employees worldwide.

Since the 1970s, the demand for endoscopes has been continuously rising in industry as well, particularly for the inspection of hollow spaces in machines, airplanes, etc. KARL STORZ was able to optimally transfer the advantages of medical endoscopy to industrial fields of application and to further develop them. Since that time, KARL STORZ has been offering a full product range in industrial endoscopy as well, consisting of measuring systems, videoscopes, flexoscopes, borescopes, and intelligent documentation systems.

About NDTec AG, Walsdorf

The family company NDTec AG (Walsdorf, Germany) was founded in 2015 by Alexandra and Thomas Weinberger and is considered a specialist for industrial visual inspection. Since its foundation, the company has been focusing on the sales and service of rigid and flexible endoscopes, videoscopes, and documentation systems. NDTec is a reliable partner to industrial customers (in aerospace, inspection, building construction and civil engineering, automotive technology, the energy industry, and processing facilities) as well as to experts in security technology. With branches in Austria and Switzerland, the company is gradually expanding its European presence. The company sees the greatest potential growth in the development and advancement of its own VTec product line. Offering product and application training, NDTec is a partner who does not exclusively rely on quality products but also stands for customer focus, reliability, and quality service.