PRESS RELEASE
Leoni builds ‘Factory of the Future’
Competence Center in Roth: Ideal conditions for innovation and efficient
production – completion by the end of 2018
Nuremberg, 5 April 2017 – Leoni, the leading European provider of cables
and cable systems to the automotive sector and other industries, has
reached another milestone on its way to realising the ‘Factory of the
Future’: now that the contract covering the ‘An der Lände’ site has been
successfully concluded with the City of Roth, the construction phase
officially starts today. With this project, Leoni is making a clear
commitment to this location in Germany – and to safeguarding as well as
creating modern jobs. This plant will in the future both underpin Leoni’s
core business in the cable sector and lay the foundations for use of
digital technologies and the strategic expansion of its solutions
business.
Buildings covering a total floor space of about 57,000 square metres will now
be erected on the 134,000 square metre-sized site in Roth. Alongside
additional production capacity, Leoni will be establishing the basis for
production that points the way to the future: As a laboratory and development
center for innovative products, our Factory of the Future will enhance our
specialised work involving high degrees of added value as well as optimise
both operating and logistical processes – the focus of production will be on
cables for the car industry. In total, Leoni will be investing EUR 90 million in the
facility.
“We will need innovative products and services to operate successfully in our
market in the future as well – our Factory of the Future is therefore a key
building block in the further development of our business division,” said Bruno
Fankhauser, member of Leoni AG’s Board of Directors and in charge of the
Wire & Cable Solutions Division. With this new plant, Leoni is contributing to
safeguarding and in future creating modern jobs in Germany.
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PRESS RELEASE
One area that is to be further expanded in the Factory of the Future involves
the development and production of state-of-the-art data cables for autonomous
driving. These are particularly suited for high data rates at frequencies of
several GHz and are used on both infotainment and driver assistance systems.
This new generation of data cables will furthermore facilitate connecting a large
number of such components as car-to-x communication, which links vehicles
with each other and also with transport infrastructure.
With a cable output of about 400,000 kilometres per year, the new facility’s
products will also range from glass fiber cables for telecommunications and
infrastructure through to high-voltage and charging cables for cars with
alternative drive systems. Leoni has set itself the objective of establishing
Europe's most modern cables plant with its Factory of the Future. In addition to
the laboratory and development center, the buildings will also comprise, among
other things, an educational and advanced training facility.
Based on an estimated construction period of about two years, Leoni expects
to start step-by-step relocation of its ongoing production from the existing plant
in early 2019. Relocation of the roughly 800 employees to the Factory of the
Future is likely to be completed in mid-2020.
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 Related illustration material can be downloaded next to this release at
http://www.leoni.com/en/press/releases/details/leoni-builds-factory-of-the-future/
About the Leoni Group
Leoni is a global supplier of wires, optical fibers, cables and cable systems as well as
related services for the automotive sector and further industries. Leoni develops and
produces technically sophisticated products from single-core automotive cables
through to complete wiring systems. Leoni’s product range also comprises wires and
strands, standardised cables, special cables and cable system assemblies for various
industrial markets. The group of companies, which is listed on the German MDAX,
employs more than 79,000 people in 32 countries and generated consolidated sales of
EUR 4.4 billion in 2016. In 2017, Leoni celebrates its 100 years anniversary.
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PRESS RELEASE
Contact person for journalists
Sven Schmidt
Corporate Public & Media Relations
LEONI AG
Phone +49 911 2023-467
Fax
+49 911 2023-231
E-mail [email protected]
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