HORSCH Maschinen GmbH invests over EUR 23 million in expansion of its production plant in Schwandorf. By the first half of 2020, three crucial projects will be created, very important for further development of the company. The central project will be a so-called “factory in the forest”, which construction was officially started on Oct 16, 2018.
In this project alone, about EUR 14 million will be invested. North of two halls, logistic and assembling, another production hall of 3600 m2 will be constructed. The new logistic hall will have the area of 4600 m2. Furthermore, an open space storage area, of ca. 4,200 m2 will be constructed, which will be partly roofed and used for a temporary storage of subassemblies delivered by regional suppliers. The undertaken activities related to expansion will be aimed at improvement in the space available at production peaks, resulting from a dynamic development of the company.
“The factory in the forest” ensures large processing and assembling capacities reaching EUR 220 million of machine turnover. Both halls are connected to the office and social facilities of 540 m2 of a surface area, and this ensures additional 54 office stations. It is there, where new workstations for the purchase department, production preparation and production management. The end of the first construction stage of the “factory in the forest” was planned for later summer months of 2019. The second construction stage will start at the end of the first stage.
At the second stage of works, a new paintshop will be constructed, which will cover exceptionally high demand for coated components at Schwandorf. EUR 3 million will be invested in the building alone, with further EUR 4 millions spent on the paintshop, which will be one of the most modern facilities, and will operate according to the latest environmental standards based on powder coating, so it will generate minimum quantities of waste and emissions. With the new facilities, coating, which previously had to be done in Ronneburg (Thuringia), can be performed in Schwandorf, and this ensure new processing capacities at the factory in Ronneburg, and reduce truck traffic between two factories.
New sport rooms for employees will also be constructed in the new halls.
The construction works conducted for the Agriculture Centre of Innovation (ACI) progress very well. The new building intended for the research and development department will receive additional 50 workstations. The investment cost is ca. EUR 2 million. In the future, engineers, constructors, electronic engineers, and software engineers will be employed here. The construction works should end in the middle of 2019.
All HORSCHA expenditures on expansion of the company in Schwandorf will amount to EUR 23 million in the summer of 2020, and this will ensure for it another step in development at its headquarters. Already in 2017, sales at the company reached a record level of EUR 356 million (an increase by 19%, from EUR 300 million in 2016), and the number of employees reached the level of 1600 people all over the world.
