COMPANY HISTORY
Our company history at a glance
1981 till TODAY : COMPANY HISTORY AND MILESTONES
BGS Beta-Gamma-Service GmbH & Co KG was founded by Dr. Lothar Wiesner in Wiehl near Gummersbach in 1981. His business idea was to offer the innovative and advantageous irradiation technology as a first-class service in line with customer requirements. After two years of construction, the first two electron accelerators were put into operation in 1983.
Through constant growth and our dynamic willingness to invest, our company has developed over the years into Germany’s largest provider of irradiation services. Today, BGS operates two gamma plants and eight electron accelerators at three strategically located sites in Germany (Bruchsal near Karlsruhe, Saal a.d. Donau and Wiehl near Cologne) and employs more than 200 people. Thanks to the targeted expansion of the plants, services can be offered uniformly at all locations, which improves logistics and flexibility for customers and enables faster throughput times.
BGS is owned by the Kotz (Wiehl) and Fissler (Idar-Oberstein) families. Dr. Andreas Ostrowicki has headed the company as Managing Director since 2008.
1981: COMPANY
FOUNDATION
Under the management of Dr. Lothar Wiesner, BGS is founded in the new industrial area of Wiehl (North Rhine-Westphalia) with seven employees. His idea: to establish a service company for radiation technology. Right from the start, BGS is one of the few companies to offer both radiation sterilization and radiation crosslinking.
1983: PIONEERING TIME WITH TWO ACCELERATORS
Two years later, the first two electron accelerators (0.56 MeV and 2.8 MeV) are put into operation. At this time, BGS has ten employees. The beginnings are difficult, the innovative technology is still little known. The first customers come from the fields of medical technology and the cable and hose industry.
1986: FIRST GAMMA PLANT AND SECOND LOCATION
In 1986, the first cobalt-60 gamma irradiation plant is built in Wiehl. BGS thus expands the field of radiation sterilization, particularly of medical technology and packaging for food and pharmaceutical products – demand is now growing rapidly. In the same year, the Bruchsal (Baden-Wuerttemberg) site is founded with the purchase of a 4.5 MeV accelerator.
1997: COMMISSIONING OF THE NEW GAMMA PLANT
In Wiehl, the new 5 MCi cobalt-60 gamma plant is put into operation and the storage area for non-irradiated and irradiated products is expanded. The old gamma plant is converted and space is created for a 2.5 MeV electron accelerator. At this time, the management had already been in the hands of Dr. Alfred Zyball, who holds a doctorate in physics, for seven years.
2000: SAAL BECOMES THIRD LOCATION
BGS continues to expand: Saal a.d. Donau (Bavaria) is added as a third location in 2000. Here, the company operates a modern 10 MeV electron accelerator for the highly automated irradiation of piece goods. BGS now employs a total of 71 people. The administration building at the headquarters in Wiehl needs to be extended.
2002: NEW CONSTRUCTION 10 MEV ELECTRON
ACCELERATOR
The construction of a new 10 MeV electron accelerator starts at the Bruchsal site. The special feature of this plant is that parts measuring up to 12.0 m x 1.60 meters can be irradiated here – the largest irradiable area in the world to date!
2008: NEW MANAGEMENT
After 18 years, Dr. Alfred Zyball hands over the management of the company to Dr. Andreas Ostrowicki. The doctor of chemistry continues to modernize the company, introduces industrial processes and standards and makes it an important service provider for customers from around 30 countries.
2009/2010: NEW CONSTRUCTION 5 MEV ELECTRON
ACCELERATOR
A new 5 MeV accelerator for irradiating cables, pipes and hoses is built at the Saal a. d. Donau site in 2009. The accelerator goes into operation a year later. At the same time, the logistics area is expanded to approx. 8,800 square meters.
2012/2013: EXPANDED LOGISTICS SPACES IN WIEHL
Warehouse space is also becoming scarce in Wiehl, so BGS is building a new logistics center for sterile products at its headquarters. In addition, new ERP software for complete process integration will be introduced at all three sites in 2013.
2014: NEW HANDLING SYSTEM DOUBLES CAPACITY
An advanced handling system with a high throughput rate for the automated handling of packaged products is installed in Saal. This measure enables the plant capacity to be doubled. One year later, a new 3.0 MeV multipurpose accelerator with an output of 150 kW is installed in Wiehl. The system creates additional irradiation capacity for drums and cardboard packaging.
2018: MOST MODERN GAMMA PLANT GOES INTO OPERATION
After a construction period of just one and a half years, the new 6 MCi cobalt-60 gamma system including the highly automated logistics center is inaugurated at the Bruchsal site – the largest project in the history of BGS to date with an investment of around 15 million euros. The world’s most modern gamma system at the time can process up to 80,000 pallets of sterile goods per year.
2019/2020: NEW ADMINISTRATION BUILDING IN WIEHL
In summer 2020, after two years of construction, the new administration building with open space and state-of-the-art IT equipment at the headquarters in Wiehl are ready to be moved into. Cross-divisional communication and flexible working from anywhere are now part of daily work processes.
2020: EXPANDED LOGISTICS SPACES IN BRUCHSAL
BGS remains on course for growth during the pandemic and launches the construction of new logistics space for sterile goods at the Bruchsal site. The new hall will create 2,700 square meters of new storage space, more than doubling the previous storage space.
2021: 40 YEARS OF BGS AND TOP 100-INNOVATOR
With now more than 190 employees, BGS celebrates its 40th anniversary in summer 2021. In the same year, the company receives the TOP 100 Award for innovative strength and success for the third time in a row and organizes the Irradiation Service Days, the first virtual trade fair for radiation sterilization and radiation crosslinking topics.
2023/2024: HALL EXTENSION AND LABORATORY EXPANSION
Work begins on the expansion of logistics and production at the Wiehl site. Around 1,000 square meters of new space will be created. At the same time, planning begins for the construction of a new laboratory with state-of-the-art plastics testing and measuring technology – scheduled for completion in 2024.
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