immo!nvest – Die Plattform für Standorte und Immobilien

Tag: Wachstumskurs

  • Pistor expands its headquarters

    Pistor expands its headquarters

    Pistor AG has been headquartered in Hasenmoosstrasse – near Rothenburg Station – for over 40 years. The company offers over 25,000 products as well as innovative services: “As a wholesaler and service provider, we have been supplying not only bakeries and confectioners for some time, but also catering and healthcare businesses such as hospitals and retirement homes. We want to supply the latter increasingly with medical consumables,” explains Pistor CEO Patrick Lobsiger. He emphasises that the company is basically on a growth course, which is why more space is needed.

    The planned 32,000 square metres of space will mainly be used for warehousing, goods handling and distribution. In addition, there will be parking spaces for cars, lorries and bicycles, as well as new office space. These are to be realised on the meadow between the headquarters and the ACE Café. Since the site is located in the agricultural zone, rezoning is a prerequisite. This fulfils the requirements of the Lucerne Plus partial guideline plan for settlement management 2030. The Rothenburg electorate approved this project on 12 March 2023. The cantonal government of Lucerne still has to formally confirm the voters’ decision in an approval procedure. Lobsiger is pleased about the trust of the people of Rothenburg: “With the expanded infrastructure and our highly automated logistics solutions, we want to offer our cooperative members and customers the most efficient and reliable supply chain on the market,” says Lobsiger.

    The new building is to be constructed in three stages starting in 2026 using a CO2-reducing construction method. Around two years are planned for each stage. None of the buildings will exceed 30 metres in height. An ecological upgrading of the new buildings by greening the surroundings is planned. The flat roofs will also be greened and equipped with seepage-capable surfacing and photovoltaic systems. The double-digit million euro amount budgeted for the expansion of the headquarters is also to include the acquisition of additional E-LKWS. By the end of 2023 alone, Pistor AG wants to expand its fleet from the current three to a new eleven e-trucks.

    The company, which currently employs around 616 people, is considered an important employer in Rothenburg. The expansion could create more jobs for central Switzerland.

  • Miele builds a plant in the USA

    Miele builds a plant in the USA

    Thanks to its high-quality cookers, ovens, hobs, steam cookers, cooker bonnets and other attractive products, the Cooking business unit has been one of the Miele Group’s most important growth drivers for many years – most recently with more than CHF 1.1 bn in sales and an increase of almost 13%. “We are also planning for increasing unit sales in the coming years,” says Cooking boss Uwe Brunkhorst, “and this means we are reaching the limits of our capacity with our current production sites in Arnsberg, Bünde and Oelde.”

    There are several good reasons for the decision to also produce in the USA in the future. “The United States is already Miele’s largest market outside of Germany, with recent significant growth rates but also a lot of potential,” says Axel Kniehl, Managing Director of Marketing & Sales for the Miele Group. Producing locally is therefore a logical step and sends a strong signal to customers there. In addition, this eliminates the need to transport appliances across the Atlantic: “This reduces delivery times from up to ten weeks today to just a few days, while at the same time reducing the burden on the climate”, says Stefan Breit, Managing Director Technology. In order to further reduce CO2 emissions, the majority of supplier parts will also come from the USA.

    In a first step, Miele will manufacture 30-inch ovens and large, versatile range cookers at its new plant, both of which are specially designed for North America. Large-format cooker bonnets will be added later. Production is scheduled to start at the end of 2024, with 150 employees by the end of 2025. The decision on the specific location will be made and communicated in the coming months. What a second expansion stage might look like will be examined at a later date with a view to further product groups and the personnel required for this.

    Today, the production of the Cooking business unit is distributed as follows: The Bünde plant (approx. 730 employees) produces hobs and steam cookers as well as warming drawers, Arnsberg (approx. 250 employees) the cooker bonnets and Oelde (approx. 670 employees) the cookers, ovens and dialogue cookers. The steam ovens, i.e. ovens and steam cookers in one appliance, are produced in Bünde or Oelde, depending on the model. All locations are in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Production of the large-format series in the new plant will not weaken Arnsberg, Bünde or Oelde, on the contrary: “We will become more efficient through less complexity and at the same time gain the urgently needed capacities for future increases in the number of units of the other model series,” says Uwe Brunkhorst.

    Including the new plant, the Miele Group’s international production network will then comprise a total of 16 locations, eight of which are in Germany and one each in Austria, China, the Czech Republic, Romania, Poland and the USA. Added to this are the two plants of the Italian medical technology subsidiary Steelco Group.