Work on KraussMaffei’s new plant in Laatzen has been completed, the company has announced. The official handover of the keys on 1 September occurred almost exactly two years after KraussMaffei and VGP – the project developer with whom KraussMaffei has partnered on various projects – officially laid the foundation stone for the new production plant.
Located in Laatzen's eastern industrial park in the Hannover region and spanning an area of around 97,000 m², the new plant offers space for up to 750 workplaces.
“In the new Laatzen plant, all extrusion technologies – from pipe and profile extrusion through sheet and flat film extrusion to rubber and foam extrusion – as well as compounding and recycling technologies are combined at a single location,” said Dieter Thewes, CEO of KraussMaffei Extrusion GmbH.
In addition to the new office and the production halls, where the company’s range of extrusion systems and recycling equipment for the plastics and rubber processing industries are produced, a Customer Experience Centre for customers and visitors has also been established at the site. Here, customer-specific trials can be conducted to test demanding and complex extrusion applications on up to 26 lines under realistic production conditions.
“In our new extrusion and recycling technology centre we are placing an even stronger focus on circular economy. This means that in Laatzen, we are going to develop new solutions to make recycling processes even more efficient and thus more attractive,” said Michael Ruf, KraussMaffei’s CEO. These will include a variety of digital products designed, among others, to optimise the energy efficiency of the customers' machine utilisation.
Relocation started in July and is expected to be completed by December, although the production will be continued during the entire relocation period, production is continued.
The Laatzen site is the third project on which KraussMaffei has partnered with VGP, noted Jan Van Geet, CEO of the VGP Group.
“And we are very pleased about this. We support KraussMaffei in implementing their vision of a ‘new KraussMaffei’, but at the same time we use our technical expertise to live our own vision of ‘improving building design for a sustainable future,” he said.
The new plant offers Smart Factory features such as networked production, data processing in real time, process visualisation and data evaluation, and is equipped with modern machine tools which have increased production efficiency, yielding shorter manufacturing and delivery times.
“I very much appreciate that an innovative and forward-looking organization like KraussMaffei has found a new home in Laatzen. A company on its way to becoming a Smart Factory fits perfectly into a city that is preparing to become a Smart City,” said Kai Eggert, mayor of the city of Laatzen.