Prodways Group has announced it has acquired 100% of the share capital of Surdifuse and L’Embout Francais, strengthening its play in the hearing aid market.
The two companies were subject to a merger in December 2017 to form Surdifuse-L’Embout Francais, and work to manufacture hundreds of thousands of hearing aids with customised ear tips, as well as hearing protection devices, every year. It is said around 50% of the production process relies on 3D printing technology.
Additive manufacturing processes have been leveraged here to facilitate mass personalisation of hearing aid products, enhancing the level of care offered to users. The developments surrounding Surdifuse and L’Embout Francais over the last 12+ months have occurred as the companies bid to keep abreast of the evolution of production techniques and requirements for R&D.
Upon their merger in 2017, Guillaume Felten, President of Surdifuse-L’Embout, commented: “We are structured to serve our customers in the best conditions of quality, time and order tracking. Cross cutting exchanges of good practices, methods, management tools and the complementary of production sites will allow us to gain considerable time to achieve this goal. This is the meaning of this rapprochement.”
A little over a year later, and Prodways has swooped to now steer the Surdifuse-L’Embout Francais group as it bids to strengthen its service offering and customer proximity. For Prodways, it forms part of its vertical integration strategy and will act as a vehicle to accelerate the launch of new 3D printed products.
Through purchase of the French outfit, Prodways has acquired 40 employees, spread across two sites in Paris and Lyon, and a level of expertise that saw Surdifuse-L’Embout become one of the leading manufacturers of hearing aids in France and across the continent. Prodways is also expecting the acquisition to generate more than €3m in revenue.
