The Tognum Group is to start the building of a new plant in Poland to expand its European production as well as development capacity. The specialist for propulsion and power solutions is to invest more than €90 million in the new site close to the City of Stargard Szczeciński in North-West Poland.
Tognum Group to build new plant in Poland
The plant is to start producing the first components for Tognum’s MTU brand engines as of 2013. In addition to production, facilities will be set up for the development of mechanical and electronic engine components in Poland. Tognum is also to make investments of a similar magnitude in its lead plant in Friedrichshafen.
“We expect to grow faster in future than the market. This will be due primarily to our new drive systems, which feature low fuel consumption and reduced emissions, in addition to long service life and extremely high performance,” said Dr. Ulrich Dohle, the member of the Tognum Executive Board responsible for Technology & Operations and Deputy Chairman, at a press conference in Warsaw.
“With the expansion of our production capacity in Poland, therefore, we are creating a fundamental requirement for the growth we expect in the future, because our existing production facilities in Germany, the USA and China will not be enough. The new plant in Poland is also a key element of our global expansion strategy,” Dohle emphasised.
From the middle of 2013, production output from the future plant in Stargard Szczeciński will primarily include crankcases, cylinder heads and large-volume parts for Tognum’s MTU brand Series 2000 and 4000 engines. They will be delivered to the assembly lines of the lead plant in Friedrichshafen (Germany) and to the plants in Aiken (USA) and Suzhou (China), where engines, drive and propulsion systems and energy systems are manufactured for the Tognum Group.
In addition, Tognum is expanding its development capacity to Poland, where engineers and designers will develop and test engine components and electronic modules manufactured in the new plant that will be earmarked for engine control and automation systems. The first employees from Poland will be involved in preparing the site and erecting the plant. By the time the plant becomes fully operational in 2015 as scheduled, the Tognum Group will have increased its workforce to over 200 employees.
The prerequisite for meeting the schedule is that all approvals from the relevant authorities are granted within the required timeframe. MTU Polska, the Tognum subsidiary that has since been formed, has already purchased a 20 hectare site for the erection of the plant near Stargard Szczeciński. The tremendous potential that is available in terms of specialists and the proximity to logistics hubs, such as major seaports, are two key location factors that speak in favour of Stargard as the new location.
“The future plant is an important part of our global production network, which will subsequently become even more tightly knit and more flexible,” said Dohle. Tognum’s Friedrichshafen location, which is the largest in the network, has a key role to play, but offers only limited possibilities for further expansion. “Friedrichshafen will remain our lead plant for the key areas of research, development and production,” said Dr. Ulrich Dohle, CTO of Tognum AG, most emphatically. “Relocating part of our production to Stargard will create space on Lake Constance that will enable us to expand the remaining production and assembly lines.”
