Weinmann devices for medicine

Weinmann devices for medicine GmbH + Co. KG
legal form	GmbH + Co. KG
founding	May 29, 1968
resolution	6.5.2014
Reason for dissolution	Split / takeover
Seat	Hamburg , Germany
management	Executive Director: Wilfried Schmidt; Karl-Andreas Feldhahn;
Number of employees	350
Branch	Medical technology
Website	https://loewensteinmedical.com
	Status: 2020

An emergency respirator ( Medumat ) with a suction unit

The Weinmann Geräte für Medizin GmbH + Co. KG is a medium-sized medical -Unternehmen in Hamburg . In 1874 Weinmann started as a manufacturer of precision mechanical fittings, including pressure reducers for oxygen bottles . Weinmann is now active in the development, production and sale of medical technology products for the purpose of ventilation .

history

The company Gottlieb Weinmann GmbH, founded by Gottlieb Weinmann in Ludwigshafen in 1874, was active until the 1960s mainly as a metal construction company with the manufacture of precision mechanical fittings, including for oxygen devices. As a manufacturer of pressure gauges , it was also a supplier to the automotive industry. After the Lübeck Drägerwerke bought up his medical technology areas and the brand itself , Weinmann moved to Hamburg-Altona in 1956 and concentrated on the sale of medical technology, protective clothing and equipment. In terms of organization, Weinmann was closely linked with Bernhard Apparatebau GmbH, also a 100 percent subsidiary of Drägerwerke. In 1961, Dräger separated the two companies. The production of protective clothing such as breathing masks and professional sword diving equipment remained the job of Weinmann.

As part of a management buy-out , Weinmann separated from Drägerwerke in 1967. The new Weinmann Geräte für Medizin GmbH + Co. KG initially consisted of ten employees. The proportion of purely medical technology products was around 10 percent. After Karl Feldhahn took over the company and Joachim Griefahn joined the company, Weinmann was again a purely family company. Under Griefahn's leadership, the occupational safety and diving equipment business areas were dismantled in the early 1970s. The change to a pure medical technology company took place when the first fully automatic, time-controlled emergency respirator Medumat developed by Griefahn came onto the German market. Medumat developed into a product family that is used worldwide in rescue services and emergency medicine.

Weinmann became famous in 1974 with the Ulm suitcase . It was created through the collaboration with the then chief physician of the Ulm Bundeswehr Hospital Friedrich Wilhelm Ahnefeld and the emergency physician Bodo Gorgaß . Today it is widespread around the world and is a synonym for emergency kits in the rescue service .

Weinmann began producing medical ventilation technology in the 1980s. Initially, the company focused on the sale of oxygen concentrators for long-term oxygen therapy. In 1986 Weinmann signed an OEM development and acceptance agreement with the US company Chad . It provided the technological basis for the development of the first sleep therapy device by a German company: Somnotron was introduced in 1991, the first device made in Germany for the treatment of sleep apnea syndrome . Weinmann expanded this product area in the following years with hardware and software products for stationary and outpatient sleep laboratories as well as for mobile sleep monitoring at home.

In 1991 Weinmann also offered ventilation masks with the first nasal mask , which can be used both in sleep therapy and in out-of-hospital ventilation. The mask variants now range from nasal and mouth-nose masks with or without chin wrap made of materials such as silicone and gel, to nasal cushion masks and one-size-fits-all masks.

One-size-fits-all mask JOYCEone, nasal

Other new medical products followed, including the expansion of the Medumat (emergency) respirator family and the Somno (sleep), Venti (ventilation) and Joyce (masks) lines in the homecare sector.

In 2013 Weinmann was split into two independent companies: while Weinmann Equipment for Medicine GmbH + Co. KG focuses on the business areas of ventilation and sleep medicine, Weinmann Emergency Medical GmbH + Co. KG focuses on mobile devices for ventilation and defibrillation. In the same year Weinmann Geräte für Medizin GmbH + Co. KG became 100 percent part of the Löwenstein Group.

In 2016 Weinmann GmbH + Co. KG changed its name to Löwenstein Medical Technology GmbH + Co. KG.

Products

The portfolio of Weinmann Geräte für Medizin GmbH + Co. KG included products for outpatient sleep diagnostics, for sleep therapy, for out-of-hospital ventilation / home ventilation as well as ventilation masks and accessories for the respective areas.

Löwenstein medical will continue to offer these product groups.

Corporate structure

Weinmann had its own research department that was responsible for developing the devices and their software. The company sold its products in more than 55 countries: through branches, representative offices and trading partners in France, Switzerland, Sweden, Russia, China and Latin America, among others. The production took place in Germany. To this end, Weinmann maintained its own production, logistics and service center in Henstedt-Ulzburg near Hamburg.

There is little research that can be done about the corporate structure of the Löwenstein Group. Research in industry information and commercial registers showed that Löwenstein presented itself as an entrepreneur-run medium-sized company with production sites in Germany. The entries in the commercial register do not contradict this. (As of 05/2020)