KraussMaffei Berstorff announced that it will build a new plant for extrusion technology in Hanover-Laatzen, Germany. At the beginning of June 2019, the company signed a rental contract with committee reservation with the company VGP, a project developer for commercial real estate, thus firing the starting shot for the approximately 55,000 m2 production hall and office complex. Work for the plant on the 80,000 m2 area in the Laatzen / Rethen Ost business park should be completed by the end of 2022. The new location will have a state-of-the-art TechCenter, production and office facilities, and provide space for up to 750 employees.
„We are delighted that, with this new building project, we have created the basis for further growth. More than ever, we are committing ourselves to innovation and quality – made in Germany – and Industry 4.0“, said Matthias Sieverding, President of the Extrusion Technology segment in the KraussMaffei Group. „We consciously chose the Hanover region as the location in order to be able to shape the future together with our experienced employees,“ Sieverding continued. The construction work is scheduled to start already this year. KraussMaffei Berstorff plans to have completed the transfer to the new location before the end of 2022.
The main feature of the new company headquarters will be an InnovationCenter with state-of-the-art extrusion technology. According to the company, demanding and intricate extrusion experiments can be carried out on different systems under realistic production conditions. More than twenty state-of-the-art machines ranging from a small laboratory system through to a production machine will be available. There will also be special emphasis on the demonstration of technology for processing plastic waste to create new materials for use.
KraussMaffei Berstorff said it will consistently align its production in accordance with the principles of Industry 4.0 in the new building complex. In Laatzen, the company will set up a smart factory with continuously networked production and data processing in real time, visualized processes and data evaluation. Furthermore, in production it will be possible to sustainably increase efficiency with the use of modern machine tools, and thus reduce the throughput times for the manufacture of extrusion components. „This will also benefit our customers, as we will optimize delivery deadlines,“ said Sieverding.