Foundation of the company by Dr. Lothar Wiesner
History
BGS company history
BGS Beta-Gamma-Service GmbH & Co. KG was founded in 1981 by Dr. Lothar Wiesner in Wiehl near Gummersbach. His business idea: To offer new and beneficial radiation technology for the industry as a first-class, demand-oriented and customer-specific service often considered too complex and costly by many companies.
Due to continuous growth and its dynamic willingness to invest, the independent and medium-sized company has developed into Germany’s largest provider of radiation services over the years. At three logistically favourable locations – Bruchsal near Karlsruhe, Saal an der Donau and Wiehl near Cologne – BGS nowadays operates two gamma plants and eight electron accelerators in total. With the strategic expansion of the plants, services can be provided in equal measure at all locations; this improves logistics and flexibility for our customers and enables faster cycle times.
Numerous strategic partnerships with universities and leading research institutes as well as close relationships with customers are the prerequisite for innovation and continuous development – in recognition of this, our company received the TOP 100 Innovator award three times in a row (2019, 2020, 2021).
Today, BGS is owned by the families Kotz (Wiehl) and Fissler (Idar-Oberstein). Since 2008, Dr. Andreas Ostrowicki has guided the fortune of the company as managing director.
BGS Company milestones
1981
1986
Bruchsal becomes the second location with a 4.5 MeV electron accelerator
1997
The new 5 MCi Cobalt-60 gamma plant in Wiehl goes into operation
2000
Saal an der Donau becomes the third location with a 10 MeV electron accelerator for highly-automated irradiation of piece goods
2002
New construction of a 10 MeV electron accelerator for the irradiation of parts with dimensions of up to 12 m x 1.60 m in Bruchsal
2008
Dr. Andreas Ostrowicki assumes the management of the company
2009
New construction of a 5 MeV accelerator for the irradiation of pipes and tubes at the location in Saal a. d. Donau
2010
Expansion of a new logistics centre with approximately 6.500 m2 of space in Saal a. d. Donau
2012/2013
Expansion of a new logistics center for sterile products in Wiehl
2013
Introduction of a modern ERP software system for full process integration at all locations
2014
Installation of a modern handling system with high throughput performance for the automated handling of packed products in Saal; the plant capacity is doubled
2015
Installation of a new 3.0 MeV multi-purpose accelerator with a performance of 150 kW in Wiehl for additional irradiation capacities of products on drums and in cardboard packages
2018
The new 6 MCi Cobalt-60 gamma plant with a highly-automated logistics center goes into operation in Bruchsal
2019/2020
Building of the new administration building in Wiehl. In the modern open-space environment, we benefit from inter-departmental exchange; cutting-edge IT technology allows working from anywhere
2020
Building of a new logistics hall at the Bruchsal location, thus creating 2,700 square metres of additional logistics space
2021
BGS celebrates 40th company anniversary and is awarded TOP100 Innovator for the third time in a row
2023
Expansion of logistics and production by 1,000m² area and expansion of the laboratory at the Wiehl site, planned completion 2023