Linde Hydraulics has opened its newly-built main plant in Aschaffenburg, Germany.
The plant, which consists of a 22,000m² large production and assembly hall and an extendable office complex, provides a new, state-of-the-art workplace for the 700 employees, comprising 400 production and assembly employees and 300 employees in R&D, sales, quality control, order management and purchasing.
This 80m investment represents one of the largest factory investments in rural Bavaria in the last 10 years. Financing for the purchase of the land, construction and investment in new, modern plant was provided by a property company, which is funded in turn by Weichai Power, the majority stakeholder in Linde Hydraulics. After Linde Hydraulics became legally independent in 2012, the company has now achieved its own physical independence.
The inaugural ceremony was held in the presence of Guo Shuqing, governor from Shandong province; Klaus Herzog, the Lord Mayor of the City of Aschaffenburg; Tan Xuguang, chairman and CEO of Weichai Power; and Gordon Riske, chairman of the executive board of Kion Group.
“With this new, state-of-the-art building, Linde Hydraulics has created an excellent basis for further independent development and more competitiveness,” said Linde Hydraulics CEO Dr Jörg Ulrich (right) during the ceremony, adding that the company will be able to use growth potential and innovative opportunities more rapidly and more effectively in future.
Tan Xuguang, chairman and CEO of Weichai Power, said, “This investment in the new, enlarged plant in Aschaffenburg is a clear signal of our confidence in the innovative power and the long-term growth potential of Linde Hydraulics’ main location. We will also provide incentives for successful expansion into Asian markets from here in future.”
In proceeding with the construction project, Linde Hydraulics is underlining its firm commitment to environmental awareness. The new buildings have been equipped with the latest energy-efficient building technology, which accurately records and quickly analyses energy consumption in real time. This technology seamlessly coordinates energy savings and recovery, for example by using heat exchangers to feed the heat given off by machinery into the system. Linde has also invested in new, high-use energy-saving machinery and the new plant is already ISO 50001 certified.
In constructing a completely new plant and buildings, the company has taken the opportunity to optimize work processes and information flows. “We place particular importance on energy efficient products, such as our hydraulic start-stop system. In commissioning this project, we have not only optimized the structure of our plant in order to achieve considerably better interdisciplinary cooperation, we have also further optimized the plant itself,” said Dr Steffen Appel, who is a member of the company management and is responsible for the project.
“I would like to thank all parties involved in the project who completed it not only on time but also within budget.”
The plant has capacity for 150,000 hydraulic units (pumps and motors) and an additional 50,000 assembly kits for final assembly in other plants. The project is located on a newly purchased property near the old plant, and was completed over the last two and a half years.
July 15, 2016
