KraussMaffei continues modernisation strategy with new Laatzen plant

Machinery and systems manufacturer KraussMaffei, whose product portfolio includes production and recycling equipment for the tyre industry, has received the keys to its new plant in Laatzen, Germany. After two years of construction, the symbolic handover of the 97,000 square metre facility took place on 1 September.

The plant offers space for a workforce of up to 750 to produce extrusion systems and recycling equipment for the plastics and rubber processing industries. The move from the old facility in nearby Hannover began in July and will be completed by December, with production continuing during the entire relocation period.

Shorter delivery times

Chief executive officer Dr Michael Ruf says he is thrilled that “with the commissioning of this ultra-modern site now underway, we are opening a new chapter in the 184-year history of KraussMaffei.” He continues: “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. For example, we are going to work on a variety of digital products designed to optimise the energy efficiency of our customers’ machine utilisation.”

Features of the smart factory in Laatzen include consistently networked production, data processing in real time, process visualisation and data evaluation. State-of-the-art machine tools significantly increase production efficiency and manufacturing times for extrusion components are simultaneously reduced, the result being that shorter delivery times for customers.

“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,” says Dieter Thewes, chief executive officer of KraussMaffei Extrusion GmbH.

In addition to the new office and production buildings, KraussMaffei has established a Customer Experience Center for customers and visitors. At the same time, an Innovation Center is available for technical trials performed within the frame of customer-specific projects. Demanding and complex extrusion applications can be tested here on up to 26 lines under realistic production conditions.

Major investment in production sites

Setting up shop in Laatzen is part of KraussMaffei’s new location strategy, which involves the relocation of four sites to larger and more modern production facilities. New plants in JiaXing, near Shanghai, and Einbeck, Germany, have already been in operation since 2020. Later this year, KraussMaffei will move into its new headquarters in Parsdorf, east of Munich. The company has invested a total of “three-digit millions of euros” in its new production sites.

“After the sites in Einbeck near Göttingen and Parsdorf near Munich, the new plant in Laatzen is the third project for which KraussMaffei has partnered with VGP to benefit from our experience and expertise,” comments Jan Van Geet, chief executive officer of project developer VGP Group. “And we are very pleased about this. It makes us proud to be part of the largest investment and modernisation program in the history of this traditional company, but at the same time our involvement is also a mission and commitment for us. 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.”