Opening of the Development and Innovation Centre
12-million euro investment at the Windhagen site
On 30 June 2023, only 10 months after the first ground was broken at the end of August 2022, local government representatives and the management board of Wirtgen have now officially opened the newly completed Development and Innovation Centre on the Dachsberg.
Local government representatives and the Wirtgen Management Board give the green light for the opening of the new Development and Innovation Centre (l to r):
Michael Mahlert, First District Councillor of the Neuwied district; Wirtgen CEO Dr Günter Hähn, District Administrator Achim Hallerbach; Wirtgen CEO Dr Cyrus Barimani; Otto Neuhoff, mayor of Bad Honnef; Michael Christ, mayor of the municipality of Asbach; Wirtgen Group CEO Dr Volker Knickel; Martin Buchholz, mayor of Windhagen.
An important milestone on the road to a successful future
In his opening speech at the event, Wirtgen CEO Dr Günter Hähn first thanked the various local and regional authorities for their support: ‘It would have been impossible for us to realise a project like this without the constructive collaboration of the authorities of the Neuwied and Rhein-Sieg districts, the town of Bad Honnef and the municipalities of Asbach and Windhagen. I would therefore like to express our particular thanks to the representatives of the local governments and authorities who are here with us today.’ He sees this expansion of the facilities as another milestone in the history of the company. ‘We have been developing pioneering construction equipment and technologies for the global market in Windhagen for over 60 years. Thanks to our state-of-the-art Development and Innovation Centre, we are now ideally positioned for the future.’
Ideal framework conditions for development and production
On a guided tour of the new facility, Wirtgen gave everyone attending the opening event an opportunity to gather first impressions of the future working environment of its employees. For example, two halls with a total covered floorspace of 4,000 m² provide ample room for predevelopment and prototyping of smart and sustainable solutions for the road construction process chain. Between the two halls is an open space of 14,000 m² for the exhaustive testing regime to which new developments must be subjected before they can approved for serial production. The Wirtgen employees find ideal working conditions in the neighbouring, 800 m² office block that offers not only state-of-the-art offices and conference rooms, but also integrated staff rooms and facilities.
In the future, the bays previously used by the development department will be utilised as planned as additional space for machine production, and will enable us to respond even more flexibly to the strong demand for our products on the part of our customers.
‘The investments made here will further improve the framework conditions for our own development, testing and evaluation infrastructure. The considerably larger area and even better equipment available to us here enable us to focus even more intensely on all phases in the development of new products and pioneering technologies. And this allows us to make the quality of our product validation even better and underscore our role as an innovation driver.’
Thomas Lehnert, Head of Construction and Development, Wirtgen GmbH
A guided tour of the Dachsberg facility
Focus on sustainability
Wirtgen attaches great importance to cost-effective and environmentally-friendly solutions not only for the road construction machines it manufactures, but also for all operational processes and activities at the brand headquarters in Windhagen. ‘Sustainability is a mainstay of the corporate strategy that contributes to the overall strategy of the John Deere Group’, says Dr Volker Knickel, CEO of the Wirtgen Group. The Development and Innovation Centre was also planned in accordance with the latest environmental and emissions standards to assure maximum sustainability. These include, for example, resource-friendly generation of electricity for the factory halls and buildings by means of large-scale photovoltaic arrays.
Wirtgen staff celebrate the opening of the new facility at the ‘in-between’ summer party
Wirtgen is firmly rooted in the region as a major employer and an attractive provider of vocational training opportunities. For many years now, the company has organised a so-called ‘in-between’ party at the factory in summer in addition to the traditional Christmas party for its over 2,000 employees, 120 of whom are currently in training. So, after the official opening of the Development and Innovation Centre, the workforce, among them around 100 Wirtgen career starters, also came together to celebrate the inauguration of the new facility with highlights such as a fascinating demonstration of machines in action by the company’s own trainees.
Continuity in the management board at the Wirtgen brand headquarters in Windhagen
After 30 years with the company, many of them as head of the Research and Development department, Dr Günter Hähn will be leaving Wirtgen after the opening of the Development and Innovation Center to enjoy his well-earned retirement. The opening of the Development and Innovation Center closes a circle not only for him. ‘My successor, Dr Cyrus Barimani, the next captain at the helm of the company, is also a former head of the Research and Development department at Wirtgen.’ After four years as CEO at Kleemann GmbH, also a member company of the Wirtgen Group, he is now returning to his old stamping ground. ‘The current investments amounting to 12 million euros are not least an expression of the trust and appreciation enjoyed by Wirtgen within the John Deere Group, among other things on account of its powers of innovation and outstanding ability to transform ideas into results’, summarises Dr Barimani.
