POWER AND PRECISION Machining specialist to the engineering industry, Schiess GmbH is currently undergoing exciting investment and restructuring. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to sales director Andreas Borgwardt to learn about the aim of these changes.
E
stablished in 1997 in the German city of Aschersleben, machining developer and manufacturer Schiess GmbH offers large-scale machines to the engineering industry. With one large facility in Aschersleben and no current plans for additional sites, Schiess’s increasingly global presence is enhanced by its on-going investment and restructuring strategy. Sales director Andreas Borgwardt told Industry Europe more about these plans, and what they hope to achieve. He said, “We are continually focused on ensuring our wide product range of machinery for sophisticated tasks is as advanced as possible. We have an exceptional manufacturing facility that supports us in our quest to deliver the most efficient, reliable machinery
to our customers across the engineering industry worldwide. Our development plans reflect that ongoing aim – we are putting a great deal of money into innovative tooling as well as restructuring our current facilities to guarantee we have the most modern equipment and plant available.”
Responsible restructuring Schiess’s huge restructuring of its current facilities has already seen a €12 million investment in new machine tools. Purchased from leading names in Germany and Switzerland, Schiess’s upgraded plant now includes a brand new large-scale measuring machine that provides exceptional quality checking. Mr Borgwardt continued, “This huge measuring machine is incredible – it’s a ter-
rific addition to our plant. It will be installed in a separate room which is carefully climatecontrolled at a steady temperature 24 hours a day.” The major investment in upgrading the already-modern facilities at Aschersleben also includes the five state-of-the-art tooling machines already installed this year, with a further three machines planned for installation before the end of 2012.
Time for investment The impact of the global financial crisis has not left Schiess untouched. The company has seen changes in expected orders due to customers experiencing a downturn in their own demand and, with the challenges of the Euro and bailouts from Germany, it appreci-
