Interroll to Build New Factory at Karlsruhe to Meet Growing Demand
13th December 2018
Conveyor specialist Interroll is building a new factory at Kronau, in the greater Karlsruhe area of Germany. A production area of approximately 15,000 sq m is planned. The company is investing a total of around €40 million in stages, and completion of the factory is planned by the end of 2020.
In addition to already successful solutions such as the Modular Conveyor Platform (MCP), Interroll will launch innovative products and solutions in the area of conveyors and sorters in the first quarter of 2019, thereby creating a positive outlook.
“Interroll is taking into account the high growth momentum for conveyors and sorters by choosing to develop a second, significantly bigger factory in Kronau. In this way, we are securing fast delivery times for our customers and end users well into the future,” says Jens Strüwing, Executive Vice President Products and Technology in the Interroll Group. Effective emergency measures have been introduced at the Sinsheim site in order to increase production capacities; these measures will remain in place until the new factory opens in Kronau.
The planned investment volume will be provided in stages and will amount to approximately €40 million. The project comprises a new production area of around 15,000 square meters and 1,700 square meters of office space.
“With the new factory, we are not only creating new capacities. We are also completely restructuring our production priorities,” says Strüwing. “This means that we are doubling our production space for conveyors and sorters in Europe and investing specifically in a higher level of automation.”
According to the plan, conveyors, such as the MCP, which has already been extremely successful around the world and is currently assembled in the Sinsheim factory, will be assembled in Kronau. The capacities that this frees up in Sinsheim will then be directed toward the expanded production of sorters. The new factory will also be home to the global Center of Excellence for conveyors.
The new site will be part of the “A5 Quarter” construction area in Kronau. The municipal council in Kronau has already decided in favor of the acquisition of this property. It offers excellent links to the transport network and to international airports and is located close to both the existing Interroll factory in Kronau and the Sinsheim site, which will only have positive effects on the established delivery chains.
“Even though we are moving, our employees will remain in the same region, which offers an excellent environment for us as an industrial company. There is a high level of education and in the market there is a perfect mix of skilled employees for future growth on-site,” says Bernhard Kraus, Managing Director of Interroll Automation GmbH in Sinsheim. Kraus is responsible for planning the new factory.