Ziehl-Abegg plots €36m expansion
5th August 2021
GERMANY: Fan and motor manufacturer Ziehl-Abegg is investing €36m on a modern production facility at its Kupferzell site.
The Künzelsau-based company invested €16m in building an additional area of around 8,700m2 for the manufacture of a state-of-the-art generation of energy-efficient electric motors during the pandemic. A further €20m will be spent on machinery.
Despite the rollercoaster of of uncertainties created by the pandemic, Ziehl-Abegg managed to post an increase in sales at the end of the year – followed by an order intake that exceeded all previous records.
“No-one knew what was coming next – and that’s when we started our current construction project,” recalled CEO Peter Fenkl. “So we’re now glad that we’ve already created more space for rapid growth.”
New machines and systems ordered in spring 2020, are set to be arriving on a weekly basis. It is also intended to create an additional 180 jobs.
With composite materials being so important for the manufacture of many aerodynamic geometries, more space is being allocated for additional injection moulding machines. Overall, Ziehl-Abegg is expanding its production facilities worldwide or optimising existing plants: both in Schöntal-Bieringen where the aluminium casting operation is based, as well as at the locations in America and Asia.
“Corona has shown that we have to consider very carefully how we can design our production facilities in a way that enables us to satisfy the needs of the market to optimum effect,” said Fenkl.
