Gardner Denver is investing over £7 million in a new centre at its Simmern production site in Germany.
The US vacuum pump and compressor manufacturer said the project would introduce optimised processes and modern assembly techniques to its manufacturing operations.
The Simmern production site manufactures oil-lubricated, oil-free and portable screw compressors, and the project is due for completion at the end of 2016.
The investment in Simmern will keep us on the forefront by providing a platform for continuous improvement for the future
Gardner Denver’s Colin Mander
The majority of the investment will fund new machinery for compressor production, which along with pump production will allow the company to increase capacity and flexibility, said Colin Mander, regional director for Gardner Denver.
“The increasing digitalisation and smart communication options of our compressors coupled with the energy-savings measures set by the European Eco-Design Directive creates new challenges for all our engineering teams,” he said.
The existing assembly concepts of stationary systems will be converted into a continuous flow production system, which will increase productivity and reduce time and costs.
Gardner Denver’s next goal is to expand its capacity even further, and to enable this, the production of the 7.5 to 11kW range of CompAir oil-lubricated screw compressors will be shifted to Simmern from Parma, Italy.
“The investment in Simmern will keep us on the forefront by providing a platform for continuous improvement for the future,” said Mander.
In 2008, CompAir was taken over by Gardner Denver for £200 million. This included the whole of the CompAir Group, including Hydrovane and Reavell, ranking it one of the largest global compressor manufacturers in the industry.
Gardner Denver also develops pumps for a wide range of industries, including oil and gas, chemical, wastewater treatment, and food and beverage.
