In response to steadily rising demand globally for production robots and integrated system solutions, injection moulding machine manufacturer Engel is spending €11m to update and expand its plant in Dietach, Austria. Founded in 1980, the Dietach plant today develops and produces the viper linear robot, the e-pic pick-and-place robot and the pic A sprue picker. The production and logistics area, as well as the apprentice workshop and the office building, will be expanded and modernised, creating at a total of over 3000m2 in usable floor space. The project will be executed in two construction phases, starting in May 2023.
The extra space is sorely needed, as the company alreadysells well over half of all injection moulding machines complete with integrated automation technology - and the trend is continuing to grow, according to Dr. Stefan Engleder, CEO of the Engel Group.
The project will include modernising the flow assembly line, enabling the company to respond more flexibly to specific customer requests and short-term order changes without prolonging lead times, he added.
By spring 2024, the production, logistics and apprentice workshop areas will have been completed. A new photovoltaic system will be installed so that in Dietich, like at the other two production sites in Austria, solar power will supply the energy needed to operate.
The office building is also being enlarged, in order to accommodate the additional personnel needed in the future. The Dietach location is already looking for mechatronics engineers, commissioning engineers, software engineers, development engineers, and more.
Engel customers appreciate the automation expertise available at Engel. "For many customers, the high level of system solutions expertise is an important criterion for choosing ENGEL," says Jörg Fuhrmann, who was named Vice President of the Automation and Composite Systems Division at Engel on 1 Nov 2022. Fuhrmann returned to Engel in this role, having previously served as Division Manager Automation Technology at ENGEL Austria and Managing Director of ENGEL Automatisierungstechnik Deutschland in Germany from 2007 to 2016.