Sumitomo (SHI) Demag Plastics Machinery continues to invest strongly in its German sites.
The company has now completed the expansion and modernisation of its training centre and embarked on the next phase of its growth strategy by breaking ground on a new 1600 m2 warehouse, both at its site in Schwaig, Germany.
Capacity expansion and modernised production processes made it necessary to update the company’s internal logistics, said CEO Gerd Liebig.
The lightweight structure has been designed with future plant expansions in mind, featuring, for example, a central collection point for production waste to make sorting, disposal and recycling more efficient.
The location of the new hall will also enable a direct material flow from goods receipt and the dispatch loading zone to production, further increasing production efficiency and throughput times, as well as speeding up delivery times, Liebig noted.
The training centre in Schwaig has also been completely revamped. Capacity for customer training has been doubled and the new training rooms, equipped with the latest media technology to enable course participants from all over the world to participate, are directly connected to the applications technology department.
The company’s training team has been expanded to eight team members, who provide training in machine technology, application technology and robotics.
"We can now tailor the training courses to suit individual needs,” said Liebig.
"Thanks to modern media technology, we now offer efficient online training which reduces the time people need to allocate to professional skills development and performing practical exercises," added Thorsten Thümen, Senior Director Technology at Sumitomo (SHI) Demag.
Since 2016, after consolidating the Wiehe and Schwaig sites in Germany - a move which boosted the company’s flexibility and allowed both plants to focus on their core competencies - Sumitomo (SHI) Demag Plastics Machinery has stepped up its growth strategy at both sites with investments in modernisation of almost EUR 20 million.