Made in Germany! This is an approach that BENNINGHOVEN has followed for over a century. From modest beginnings as a workshop, it has grown into a global player with sites in Mülheim an der Mosel and Wittlich. A further milestone was reached in 2014 with the company’s integration into the WIRTGEN GROUP. The WIRTGEN GROUP has been part of John Deere since the end of 2017. It goes without saying that these developments further increase the strength of BENNINGHOVEN as an employer. This year, the success of our company reached its high point with the opening of the world’s most state-of-the-art factory for manufacturing asphalt mixing plants in Wittlich.
Over 130 million euros was invested in this construction project. The goal here was not only to retain the jobs of our staff, but also to create new jobs in the future, thus allowing the company to grow in the medium and long term while simultaneously making BENNINGHOVEN into a global market leader.
This project is the largest single investment in the history of the WIRTGEN GROUP (>100 million euros) and is a clear commitment to Germany as a production location, to Rhineland-Palatinate, to the region and also to the town of Wittlich. The new plant is a logical and necessary step in strengthening the company’s competitive position at a global level.
After exactly one year and eleven months, all of the around 800 BENNINGHOVEN employees moved into the new factory in Wittlich on 30 July 2018.
At the same time, BENNINGHOVEN also made a detailed analysis of the existing product portfolio and created a completely new product architecture, thus ensuring the company is perfectly positioned for exploring and serving new markets in future. The further implementation of SAP was thus a logical consequence in order to map and implement these defined processes.
For the first time in its history, the WIRTGEN GROUP is now able to offer customers everything from a single source, from mining of the material, asphalt production, laying and compaction all the way through to the milling and recycling of old road materials. With the additional construction machines from John Deere, we now boast an unbeatable team in the field of road construction.
The new product philosophy in a nutshell:
• Completely new variance in expansion phases and the configuration of mixing plants
• Top quality thanks to high manufacturing standards (e.g. powder coating)
• User-friendly ergonomics and maintenance concept
• Short project implementation times, short set-up times
• Minimal construction required, short delivery times
FACTS AND FIGURES on the new BENNINGHOVEN factory
Timeline
• Ground-breaking ceremony 31 August 2016
• Laying of the foundation stone 11 April 2017
• Topping-out ceremony 18 October 2017
• Start of operation 30 July 2018
• Construction time of exactly one year and eleven months
Facts and figures
• Investment of 130 million euros
• 800 employees
• 62 apprentices (as of August 2018)
• 310,000 m² total site area
• 120,000 m² paved area
• 60,000 m² hall area
• 12,000 m² administration building spanning five floors
• 400,000 m³ earth moved
• 8 to 9 m height difference across the site
• Approx. 300 workers on the construction site daily
Comfort at work
• Ergonomic workstations
• Adjustable tables and comfortable chairs
• A training course will be held on the subject of ergonomics.
• Protection against exposure
• In pre-fabrication, a state-of-the-art layer ventilation system from Kappa is used together with additional extraction systems on hand-held welding equipment to ensure employees are better protected against exposure.
Sustainability
• LED lighting with presence detector
The lights go out if nobody is in the room, which thus saves electricity.
• Modern surface technology
Where paint coats are currently used, powder coating is used almost exclusively at the new factory. This allows solvents as used currently to be eliminated almost completely.
• Heat exchange
The hot air extracted from the hall is cleaned using filters. The energy generated from the hot air is returned to the air circulation.
Apprentices
Training workshops
The apprentices can look forward to facilities equipped with the latest technology. Furthermore, all apprentices will also benefit from their own training space for theoretical courses, preparing for exams, control technology and for carrying out events. The azubiday was one of the important events held at the apprentice workshop this year. Under the motto “The future is waiting”, BENNINGHOVEN held its azubiday for the third time. With around 250 registered guests, the event took place for the first time in the new factory, for the first time in Wittlich and for the first time in these new dimensions.
More impressive facts and figures and a time-lapse video of the building work can be found at
https://www.benninghoven.com/en/news-media/new-headquarters/baufortschritt.php
WIRTGEN GROUP
The WIRTGEN GROUP is an international group of companies in the construction machinery sector incorporating the traditional product brands WIRTGEN, VÖGELE, HAMM, KLEEMANN and BENNINGHOVEN. As a technology leader, we offer our customers machines for road building and road maintenance, plants for extraction and mixing of usable and recycling materials and for asphalt production. Our key figures for 2017: with around 8,200 employees, we have generated consolidated sales of 3 billion euros in the WIRTGEN GROUP.
BENNINGHOVEN
BENNINGHOVEN GmbH & Co. KG is a member of the Wirtgen Group, an expanding, international group of companies in the construction equipment industry. The group includes the traditional product brands WIRTGEN, VÖGELE, HAMM, KLEEMANN and BENNINGHOVEN with their main plants in Germany and local production sites in Brazil, China and India. Global customer service is carried out by 55 own sales and service companies. Within the Wirtgen Group, BENNINGHOVEN GmbH & Co. KG is the specialist for the production of asphalt mixing plants and their components. With more than 800 employees in Germany and abroad, everything from planning to assembly is supplied from one source.
