New sterilisers monitor steam using photo-electric sensor

Miele Professional is growing faster than anticipated: 'By the end of this calendar year, we expect turnover to have reached € 490 m, equating to growth of 5.6%', claimed Executive Director and Co-Proprietor Dr Markus Miele at a press conference marking the opening of Medica, the world's largest medical technology exhibition in Düsseldorf. Currently, commercial products contribute some 13% to Miele's overall sales turnover. The technical highlight at the 340 m² exhibition booth is a new generation of sterilisers offering greater security, peace of mind and convenience in instrument reprocessing (November 14-17, Building 12, Stand F 18).

New, too, is a virtual walkaround through a fully fitted central sterile supplies department (CSSD). 'Such an experience is more graphic and animated than many a detailed explanation', says Andreas Barduna, Managing Director of Miele Professional, and encouraged his audience to discover the various rooms step by step. In practice, this means picking up and handling components with joysticks, starting various functions at the machines or simply browsing around a mobile CSSD. Indeed, Miele Professional rents just such a mobile unit to hospitals to tide them over the difficult period when their own CSSD is out of service, for instance for renovation work.

The product portfolio of the Gütersloh-based family-owned company will include new large steam sterilisers from May 2017 onwards which monitor critical sterilisation conditions, above all the presence of saturated steam, more reliably than conventional approaches. 'With the aid of a special photo-electric sensor, we provide users with precise information on the sterilisation process fast', maintains Andreas Barduna. Above all, this revolves around the quality of steam, which should be neither too moist nor superheated. Alongside temperature, pressure and holding time, this factor is a further elementary pre-condition for the successful deactivation of bacteria and viruses. Barduna: 'This is primarily what we mean when we refer to the fourth dimension of instrument reprocessing'. Further sensors identify the presence of non-condensable gases (NCGs) and air leakages in the steriliser. Automatic descaling of the vacuum pump is a further new feature which reduces the need for maintenance and extends a machine's service life.

In future, process chemicals will ensure even more convenient and simpler reprocessing: From January 2017, it will be possible to convert Miele's PG 8528 large-chamber decontamination units to dispense highly concentrated products from Dr. Weigert's neodisher® systemALPHA range. Detergents and surfactant can then be dispensed with great precision and in very small quantities so that stocks last much longer and take up far less space in storage.

The exhibition highlight for specialist clinicians in outpatient departments is new load carriers available for undercounter washer-disinfectors which either offer an extremely large capacity or were specifically developed for use in ophthalmic surgeries.

At the press conference, Markus Miele explained in further detail how Miele Professional is organised internally and is well positioned for further growth. Firstly, commercial and technical departments at Miele Professional have been brought together under a joint roof, with Andreas Barduna (Sales, Service, Marketing) and Michael Krimpmann (Technology) sharing joint responsibility at the helm. Greater proximity to the markets and users worldwide, for instance with a view to processing project orders, is afforded by the creation of sales regions spanning several countries. There are five of these, each under the leadership of one of five newly appointed Regional Heads. At the same time, Miele Professional continues to expand in the service sector. Markus Miele: 'In Germany alone, we have taken on 30 new service engineers this year, and a further 400 are set to come on board worldwide by 2024'.

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Company profile: Miele is the world's leading manufacturer of premium domestic appliances including cooking, baking and steam-cooking appliances, refrigeration products, coffee makers, dishwashers and laundry and floor care products. This line-up is augmented by dishwashers, washer-extractors and tumble dryers for commercial use as well as washer-disinfectors and sterilisers for use in medical and laboratory applications (Miele Professional). The Miele company, founded in 1899, has 8 production plants in Germany as well as one plant each in Austria, the Czech Republic, China and Romania. 2015/16 turnover amounted to approx. EUR 3.71 bn with sales outside Germany accounting for around 70%. Miele is represented with its own sales subsidiaries and via importers in almost 100 countries. The Miele company, now in the fourth generation of family ownership, employs a workforce of around 18,400, 10,300 thereof in Germany. The company headquarters are located in Gütersloh/Westphalia, Germany.