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Investments by Buschjost:
Growth rate requires expansion of capacities
A new hall for the future: "The construction of a new production hall with an area of some 1,500 m2 is also a very
clear indication of the commitment of the Norgren Group to the location Bad Oeynhausen", stresses Michael
Preinerstorfer, Managing Director of Buschjost Norgren GmbH & Co. KG. "In addition to enabling us to expand our
production capacities through new machines, this hall puts us in a position to organise our previous production
processes differently and thus to work even more efficiently."
The extension of the production area to over 8,000 m2 was necessary for two reasons. The continuously rising demand
for Buschjost products is illustrated by the two-digit growth rates. "We were faced with the question of whether
to abandon the Buschjost philosophy developed during the past decades of achieving the highest possible vertical
range of manufacture or to set up new production capacities", recalls Technical Director Oliver Wehking. The idea
of subcontracting parts of Buschjost’s production was quickly rejected: "This would have meant restricting our
flexibility and control – a situation which we did not wish to expose ourselves to."
An amount of approximately 1.1 million euros is being invested in the construction of the 1,500 m2 hall and
Uwe Schneckener and Hans-Werner Schäfer, two Buschjost "veterans", have been assigned the task of construction
management. In selecting the companies to carry out the building work, Buschjost did not take any chances. "When
awarding the contracts, only local companies were considered with whom we have successfully worked in the past",
emphasises Uwe Schneckener. By doing so, the economy in East Westphalia will benefit from the invested money.
A further investment of several million euros is due to follow as soon as the construction of production hall has
been completed to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the company. "More than 1.7 million euros will be invested
in new machining centres for metal working in 2008 and 2009, which will be set up alongside some of the older
machines in the new production building", explains Oliver Wehking. In addition to the eight machining centres,
the "pièce de résistance" of the production hall will be a flexible manufacturing system designed specifically
for Buschjost. The system consists of a fully automatic high bay into which compete materials management,
the tools and the machining centres have been integrated. Oliver Wehking: "The manufacturing system will afford
us an extremely high degree of flexibility in producing both large and small numbers of pieces with little effort
in terms of setting up the machines. Moreover, the automatic change-over of tools, fixtures and materials will
enable us to manufacture at night and at the weekends without the need for staff."
The Buschjost investment will also have a stimulating effect on the local employment market. "When everything
is finally up and running in the new hall, we will, of course, require additional well-trained manpower."
Michael Preinerstorfer is hoping to be able to recruit more skilled workers in the very near future to add to
the 50 extra jobs that have been created during the past two years.
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13.03.2008 |
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