Positive Botschaft in Corona-Zeiten: Eingang von Neuaufträgen auf Rekordniveau
Creglingen. The Wirthwein Group looks back on a difficult year 2020. The Corona crisis also caused an unprecedented drop in sales for the family-owned company headquartered in Creglingen. There was a great difference between the individual business units.
The medical technology sector, for example, experienced a special boom while customers in the automotive and home appliance industries had to reduce production for several weeks or shut it down completely, which had a correspondingly negative impact on suppliers. Since late summer 2020, the Wirthwein-Group has again recorded more stable call-offs and even a hint of catch-up effects. The rail sector and the interior design sector proved to be solid.
The group of companies with all its subsidiaries worldwide was able to limit the total decline in sales in 2020 to around 10 percent compared to the previous year. A high volume of new orders gives the family business a positive outlook for the future. ”Our employees were available to customers in all phases of the lockdown, we demonstrated our reliability at all times throughout the entire supply chain, and last but not least, customers trust our economic stability due to our strong diversification“, says Member of the Executive Board Marcus Wirthwein about the reasons he sees behind the strong customer confidence. Orders from new and existing customers now also lead to the necessity of a structural expansion at the headquarters in Creglingen.
Construction of new production hall
The new production hall is to be built on the area of the former lumber mill and thus exactly where the Wirthwein family business has its roots. The business commenced in 1949 in the cellar of the family house with the production of wooden pegs for the renovation of railroad sleepers. In the 1950s wood processing was expanded by the aforementioned lumber mill at the current location near the Tauber river. Around 2013, the disused lumber mill was dismantled bit by bit. Since then the area has been used as an outdoor storage area and parking space for a temporary hall tent. Now, the historic area is pointing the way to the future: from April 2021, the construction companies Wengertsmann and Traub will build a new production hall here. The hall with the shape of a large "L" measures 45 meters at its widest point and has a total length of just less than 90 meters. The new building adjoins the existing production hall and will have a total floor area of around 3,000 sqm. A truck loading ramp is planned for the rear section towards the Tauber, while offices as well as common rooms and sanitary facilities will be built in the front section. The addition of another floor to the office wing in a second construction phase is already planned.
Not only will the production hall be built by the end of August, but also an overhead crane will be installed, the central material supply will be ensured, and a machine park with a total of seven injection molding machines including the associated peripherals will be set up. In addition, there will be various racks and features for the storage and maintenance of tools as well as for the requirements of quality assurance during series production. Top priority is also given to the design of ergonomically pleasant workplaces at the highest safety level for the 25 new jobs to be created in the first step. The total investment volume amounts to around 10 million Euros.
