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06. June 2019READY FOR NEW CHALLENGES WITH THE „FACTORY OF THE FUTURE“

DESMA Schuhmaschinen GmbH is building a new plant on the company premises – 12,000 square metres of production site plus 4,500 square metres of office space – Inauguration planned for autumn 2020.

Achim, 6  June 2019. DESMA Schuhmaschinen GmbH is preparing to meet the growing challenges of the global market with a new-build production plant on the company premises in Achim, North Germany. The world market and technology leader for plant, machinery, automation solutions and moulds for industrial footwear production is creating the “Factory of the Future”, a building designed to reflect modern workflow principles with a production area of 12,000 square metres plus around 4,500 square metres of office space.

The groundbreaking ceremony and official start of construction was on 6 June. In addition to Professor Heinz Jörg Fuhrmann, Chairman of the Executive Board of Salzgitter AG, and DESMA Managing Director Klaus Freese, representatives of regional and local government and administration authorities as well as the building contractor all symbolically wielded the spade.

Over the past two years DESMA, a member of the Salzgitter Group, has enjoyed impressive growth. “As a result, the old factory buildings have meanwhile reached their limits in terms of both capacity and space,” explained DESMA Managing Director Klaus Freese. He and his fellow Managing Director Christian Decker appreciate this clear commitment to maintain the company location in Achim. “The new building will allow us to optimise our production processes, raise efficiency and productivity and will also provide better working conditions for our staff,” stated the management.

The “Factory of the Future” will consist of a combined production and office complex. At the head of the 12,000-square-metre production building, there will be a three-storey U-shaped office block of 4,500 square metres, which will house offices, staffrooms and a cafeteria. The new building is designed to match state-of-the-art LEAN production methods. “This will optimise our work processes while upholding our high quality standards and make us more flexible,” said Freese.

The new production building will include the warehouse and new paint shop and will handle preliminary and final assembly. It will also house the showroom and the Innovation Center, where DESMA will test and present the latest technological developments.

DESMA Schuhmaschinen GmbH is the technology leader in the automated footwear manufacturing business. 260 highly qualified employees currently work at the premises in Achim, producing around 60 rotary tables per annum, most of which are exported. “We decided to opt for a new building because this will allow us to design a completely new factory based on the “Green Field” principle and create efficient production processes,” commented the DESMA MD. “This is how we plan to defend our innovative advantage in future and safeguard jobs here at the Achim location,” he added.   

The building work is expected to take one year and the keys to the new factory building are to be handed over in mid-June 2020, after which the company will begin to move into the new building. The “Factory of the Future” is scheduled to go into production in late summer 2020.