Oxygen for everyone!

Article Revue Hospitalière de France, April

Interview on oxygen supply during the pandemic

Inmatec oxygen generators are designed and manufactured in Germany and distributed worldwide through distribution and service companies. Benjamin Popp, sales manager at Inmatec, tells us more about the positioning of this company in the health sector and its battle against the pandemic.

What is Inmatec's positioning in the healthcare sector?

We are a world leader in the manufacture of oxygen and nitrogen generators. Designed and manufactured in Germany, our systems are used all over the world. Our success began almost 30 years ago. Thanks to the experience and know-how of about 8,500 systems installed around the world, our performance and quality requirements are proven day by day.

In addition, Inmatec is one of the few producers of oxygen generators with European certification, which makes it a manufacturer of medical devices. Indeed, there are many oxygen producers with PSA technology, but only a few have our certifications. Our business therefore consists in offering the supply of medical oxygen to hospitals of all sizes, an activity which marked the year 2020. Our oxygen generators provide oxygen with a purity of up to 95% and quantities between 0.5 and 500 Nm³ / h.

In concrete terms, what services and solutions do you offer to healthcare players, especially hospitals?

We offer our customers a complete service! We design, manufacture, commission and maintain our products. In addition, being certified in accordance with international standards allows us to offer our customers medical oxygen generators that meet regulatory standards.

In fact, many renowned groups and companies around the world rely on Inmatec's solutions for the production of oxygen. For example, our Inmatec Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) technology offers solutions and processes for oxygen production for hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and even water treatment.

How exactly did you support the health actors during this continuing health crisis?

Before Covid-19, oxygen generators represented 30% of our turnover and nitrogen generators 70%. Today it is the other way around! We have found ourselves supplying our customers all over the world. For example, in Poland, oxygen supplies were depleted in many places and the supply of oxygen cylinders to hospitals could not be maintained in some cases. We installed an Inmatec POC 8400 oxygen generator in one of the hospitals. The installation is regarded as one of the most technologically advanced medical oxygen generation systems in the country.

We have also supported our clients in India, South America, especially Peru, where we have a partner who took care of all local regulations. Finally, many healthcare players in Romania, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom have approached us.

Did you have difficulties supplying everyone?

On the contrary, we are proud to have managed this period so well. You should know that there is no real difference between producing nitrogen and producing oxygen: there are only molecular differences! However, we had to extend our delivery times.

We were impacted by the interruption in supply chains for the pressure tanks, which are the basis of the generators, but we were able to deliver anytime thanks to our good inventory. Finally, certifications change from country to country. There is indeed no globally recognized medical reference. We cannot help countries fight Covid-19 without having partners there. However, we are happy to have been able to fight alongside many countries.

Published in Revue Hospitaliére April print issue
and as epaper www.revue-hospitaliere.fr