Siemens Healthcare to invest €80 million in a new semiconductor plant in Forchheim

Germany FOSCHHEIM, Germany, June 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Construction of a new Siemens Healthcare plant in Forschheim, Germany, is in full swing. When completed, the new plant will be used to produce cadmium telluride crystals used in the manufacture of semiconductor detectors. With a total investment of 80 million euros, the project is expected to create 100 new jobs in the region. Siemens Healthcare's existing crystal production plant in Japan is currently at its capacity limit. Cadmium telluride crystals are the core material for groundbreaking photon-counting CT detectors. By using this detector material, the world's first photon-counting CT NAEOTOM Alpha enables sharper, higher spatial resolution images with less X-ray radiation dose. The new facility will have a usable area of more than 9,000 square metres and is expected to be operational in 2026. This is the second major investment in Siemens Healthcare's Forschheim site in three years. Since 2019, Siemens Healthcare has invested a cumulative total of around 500 million euros in the expansion of the site.
André Hartung, Head of Siemens Healthcare's Diagnostic Imaging Division, said: "We have deliberately chosen to build the new plant in Forschheim. It was here that we produced the world's first photon-counting CT NAEOTOM Alpha. thanks to its extremely good high-resolution imaging, the NAEOTOM Alpha has seen a significant increase in market demand since its launch in 2021." The new plant will significantly increase the production capacity of CdTe crystals, preventing supply bottlenecks, and will also be significantly shorter in terms of construction time. In addition, research and development for the production of highly complex crystals will be further expanded here.
The innovative photon counting detector is the core driver of Siemens Healthcare's ground-breaking CT product NAEOTOM Alpha and offers clear advantages over conventional CT detectors. Conventional CT detectors require a scintillation crystal to first convert X-rays into visible light, which is then detected by a light sensor and reconstructed into a clinical image. This two-step conversion process makes it possible to lose the energy information of the X-rays themselves, and the density resolution and spatial resolution of the images cannot be substantially improved further. Siemens Healthcare's revolutionary photon-counting CT detector reads the photons of each X-ray beam directly, significantly increasing the effective dose usage and providing unprecedented imaging information for clinical treatment through finer spatial resolution and the inherent energy information of the X-rays.
The new Forschheim facility is striving to achieve LEED Platinum certification and is operating in a sustainable and carbon neutral manner. For example, waste heat from the production process will be used to heat the building and the plant itself will be powered by a 170kWp photovoltaic system on the roof. The outdoor facilities are also designed to be environmentally friendly, with bright sealed surfaces and shady greenery to prevent the heat island effect while keeping the building at a constant temperature. For the plant selection, Siemens Healthcare has chosen suitable native crops to promote local biodiversity. The design of the building features an innovative lighting concept based on LED technology, which reduces the lighting of the outdoor facilities and avoids light pollution, thus protecting the habits of nocturnal animals.
About Siemens Healthcare
Siemens Healthcare (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: SHL), based in Erlangen, Germany, is a leading medical technology company that is committed to the continuous development of a portfolio of products and services, including artificial intelligence-based applications and digital products that are playing an increasingly important role in the development of new generations of medical technology. These new applications will further strengthen the company's foundation in the areas of in vitro diagnostics, image-guided therapies, in vivo diagnostics and new cancer treatments. At the same time, Siemens Healthcare offers a wide range of services and solutions to help healthcare providers enhance their capabilities and provide high quality and efficient services to patients. in fiscal year 2022 (as of September 30, 2022), Siemens Healthcare will have total revenues of EUR 21.7 billion and will employ approximately 69,500 people worldwide.