Global leader in surgical gloves Ansell sets up manufacturing facility in India

Australian multinational Ansell, a global leader in surgical gloves and gloves and other protective gears for a wide range of industries, has established its first green field manufacturing facility in decades, in India.

The 17-acre facility that has come up in Coimbatore is the most advanced surgical glove manufacturing unit of the company and will cater to its key markets including the United States, Germany, France and the United Kingdom, Nathalie Ahlstrom, global CEO and Managing Director of Ansell said.

In an interaction in New Delhi, Ahlstrom said the facility has been built with sustainability standards in mind. It has zero water discharge and is over 90% net zero compliant already, she said. While 99% of Ansell’s India revenues come from surgical glove sales, there is no such concentration of revenues from one single segment in global sales. The healthcare segment which manufactures and markets innovative solutions for a wide range of customers, including hospitals, surgical centres, dental surgeries, veterinary clinics, first responders, manufacturers, auto repair shops, chemical plants, laboratories and life science & pharmaceutical companies is the biggest business segment. This portfolio which includes surgical gloves and other operating room consumables, single use and examination gloves, and cleanroom products including clean and sterile gloves, garments, and consumables  accounted for $ 1.2 billion of its global revenues last year. The company’s products and services are designed to meet the specific needs of end-users in more than 25 different industries including in various industrial, pharmaceutical, clean room spaces. The $ 2.1 billion company sells its products in over 100 countries and employs over 15,000 people across design, manufacturing and marketing segments. Approximately 55% of its revenues come from the US market.

Ahlstrom said the company is also looking at India as a very promising market as its healthcare providers turns more safety conscious and prefers high quality gloves for critical interventions instead of the conventional powdered latex gloves. “We produce only powder-free gloves”, she said.

The Coimbatore facility, inaugurated on September 15, is already supplying to the local market. The exports will happen soon, Ahlstrom said. She did not disclose the production capacity of the manufacturing facility, but said it is one of the biggest facility for the company globally. In terms of units sold, the company sells approximately 10 billion gloves globally every year.