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Festool is expanding its site in Germany with a sustainable, modern new building in Weilheim/Teck. It is located just five kilometres from the previous main production site in the southern German town of Neidlingen. The new assembly hall creates much needed expansion space to ensure long-term growth.

Efficient and automated – entirely in line with Industry 4.0

The new building was built on the approx. 10,000 square metre plot directly adjacent to the existing logistics centre in Weilheim. This close proximity provides the basis for optimum infrastructure for the lean and flexible material supply for assembly. The site in Weilheim is expected to be THE internal and external showcase factory based on lean manufacturing and Industry 4.0. At the heart of the new logistics concept is a driverless transport system. Six autonomous vehicles that are equipped with swarm intelligence are used here and these transport the required materials from the warehouse to the assembly islands. Implementing this concept should sustainably increase productivity and the output quantity – and it should gradually resolve the backlogs from recent months. The investments made as part of the new building should ensure the competitiveness of the production site in Germany and mean that the premium requirement of "Tools for the toughest demands" can continue to be met into the future.

Modern and sustainable building

The new building complies with the latest energy standards for buildings. The roof of the assembly hall houses a photovoltaic plant with an output of up to 600 kWp. It produces the bulk of the power required and helps to achieve a demonstrable, positive energy balance for the new building. The construction, with a height of 12 metres and a length of almost 100 metres, consists of a large assembly hall along with an office building with modern, bright workstations, meeting rooms of various sizes, and a canteen with kitchen. Thanks to the use of industrially prefabricated construction elements, they achieved a high level of quality in the shell construction and a short construction time.

The previous site in Neidlingen remains

Following the completion of the new building in Weilheim, the former Neidlingen production site is to be modernised extensively. After relocating the assembly lines, the following areas remain at the Neidlingen site: Machining production, tool and device manufacturing, printing (print-on-demand) as well as the training centre for all technical and commercial positions and the engine expertise centre.

Smooth operational conversion process

The company used the summer holiday period to relocate the 24 assembly islands from Neidlingen to Weilheim. From 12th September, around 300 employees moved into the new workstations in Weilheim and series production could therefore be restarted on the assembly lines.