Expansion for construction equipment specialist 08 Sep 2016

Construction has started on the expansion of Wacker Neuson’s light equipment production site in Reichertshofen, Germany.

The company, which manufactures an array of earth moving and concrete compacting equipment – as well as excavators, loaders, breakers, lighting equipment and pumps – will be investing around €10 million in a new R&D and product testing centre for light equipment between now and the start of 2017.

Construction starts on Wacker Neuson’s new facilities

Back in 1998 the company moved production of its vibratory plates division from a previous site near the Olympic Park in Munich (now the location of Group headquarters) to a factory in Reichertshofen, 65km away, to support strong growth and overcome capacity bottlenecks.

Now, over the coming year, R&D, product management and materials management will also be relocating to Reichertshofen, close to the production facility. “Moving all technical operations for light equipment to the same site will improve processes, shorten workflows and boost productivity even further,” said Helmut Bauer, Managing Director of Wacker Neuson Produktion GmbH & Co. KG.

The company currently employs around 330 employees at the Reichertshofen site. Constructing of a new office building and test hall next to the existing 10-hectare production facilities will add a further 3,500m² of additional space for up to 120 employees, primarily working in R&D. Adjacent to this will be a large, modern test hall providing almost 3,000m² of space for extensive testing of light equipment during the developmental phase.

“Expansion of the Wacker Neuson production site is currently the most important commercial development in our community,” said Michael Franken, Mayor of Reichertshofen. “It will create new jobs that will strengthen our region.”

The first employees are expected to moving into the four-storey administration building and test hall by the end of the year (2016).