Wacker Neuson’s new compact machine facility is now in full production

1651 Wacker Neuson is moving production of compact machines to a new facility located in the Austrian town of Hörsching. According to the firm, this factory is now one of the largest plans building compact construction machines in the world. Work to build the new plant commenced in June 2011 and compact excavators are now rolling off the production lines at the factory. The need for a new plant became apparent when Wacker Neuson signed a supply agreement with 178 Caterpillar for machines. "Given the increasing demand for our own products, plus the cooperation with Caterpillar for the production of excavators of up to 3tonnes, we were being pushed to our capacity limits," said Martin Lehner, deputy chairman of the Management Board of Wacker Neuson SE, who is responsible for the division of compact machines. With an investment volume of €65 million, the new factory is a development and production location for compact construction machines of up to 14tonnes. Compact and mobile excavators, compact loaders, wheel dumpers and crawler dumpers for the construction sector, gardening and landscaping, municipalities and industry are manufactured here.

The relocation was handled during May 2012, and comprised a total of just under 1,000 lorry loads. The new plant is on a 17ha site next to the airport, one of the most modern and largest compact construction machine factories in the world, with a covered area of 48,300m2. In addition, the new location houses an ultramodern production hall with a total of six assembly lines and an in-house testing ground, a paint shop with powder coating and a sandblasting unit, along with an office building. It also has an in-house apprentice workshop, a testing area and a service workshop for training purposes. The new site also increased the workforce to 520 with the addition of 200 new jobs.