Align Technology, Inc. recently opened its first Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) regional manufacturing facility in Wroclaw, Poland.
"I'm excited to announce that our first aligner manufacturing facility in the EMEA region and the third one globally has opened in Wroclaw, Poland," Emory Wright, executive vice president of global operations for Align Technology, said, according to Business Wire. "This significant investment underscores our commitment to Invisalign-trained doctors and their patients in the region and globally and extends our regional operations that include treatment planning facilities (TREAT) based in Poland, Germany, France, and Spain."
The new plant serves as the global medical device company's third regional manufacturing facility, following openings in Juarez, Mexico, and Ziyang, China, Business Wire reported. The building features 80,000 square meters of floor space. Officials expect to create more than 2,500 jobs by the end of 2025.
Operations at the new facility began in 2022 "as part of Align’s strategy to bring its operational facilities closer to its customers," according to Business Wire. The building follows Align sustainability norms, including LEED and ISO14001 certificates. Employees at the facility will be responsible for manufacturing "almost 1 million unique clear aligner parts per day."
The Invisalign system is used by more than 225,000 trained dentists and orthodontists, Business Wire reported. Doctors have treated over 13.4 million patients with the Invisalign system globally. Over 2.5 million of these patients reside in the EMEA region. The company hopes to attract business from a pool of 7 million annual orthodontic case starts and 150 million potential customers.
Align Technology leaders and employees celebrated the expansion at a grand opening ceremony on Sept. 15, according to Business Wire. Jakub Mazur, deputy mayor of Wroclaw, attended as well. The company "plans to support all EMEA Invisalign case shipments by 2025, with Poland, Central [and] Eastern Europe, and Spain as the first markets to be serviced from Wroclaw."
"It is a proud moment to have a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility start its operations in the EMEA region," Markus Sebastian, Align Technology's executive vice president and managing director for EMEA, said. "This operational expansion allows Align to stay closer to our doctor customers and to continue to deliver outstanding quality of service – by producing thousands of aligner parts per day and by optimizing our production and delivery times. Thanks to the ongoing effort of the whole organization, we can continue our mission to help more doctors create beautiful smiles for their Invisalign patients."