Plant in Hollen­bach: “Every­thing in the green range”

Equipped with state-of-the-art tech­nology and span­ning over 13,000 square metres, the plant sets bench­marks — including those in energy effi­ciency. Managing Director Produc­tion Thomas Wagner explains the concept behind ebm-papst’s newest loca­tion.

Mr Wagner, why is this plant located in Mulfingen-Hollen­bach and not in Shanghai, Chennai or another low-wage loca­tion?

Thomas Wagner: Because all our data speaks in favour of the Hollen­bach loca­tion. Refrig­er­a­tion and air-condi­tioning tech­nology, the indus­tries for which we manu­fac­ture here, is a primarily Euro­pean busi­ness with a high percentage of project busi­ness, in which speed and the ability to deliver are impor­tant. We cannot supply a customer in Vienna, Offen­bach or Sheffield from China. With delivery times from eight to twelve weeks, that takes much too long.

Other than the geograph­ical prox­imity to the markets, what else speaks in favour of Germany as a loca­tion or, more specif­i­cally, Hollen­bach?

Wagner: For example, when looking at the costs, you have to remember logis­tics. Ocean freight for one large EC fan is a good 50 dollars! Much more impor­tant, however, is the fact that we produce high-tech prod­ucts that need an appro­priate devel­op­ment and produc­tion envi­ron­ment. In Hollen­bach, we have that: highly skilled, expe­ri­enced employees, long­time rela­tion­ships with suppliers, short distances. All those involved in the project are close by and can make their contri­bu­tions directly. If there is a problem, I can have all of the respon­sible colleagues sitting at a table in 15 minutes. We can easily produce simple “me-too” arti­cles in cheaper foreign coun­tries, but we manu­fac­ture premium prod­ucts here, in the green Hollen­bach coun­try­side. This is supported by rational argu­ments like those I mentioned, but also, of course, by our close feeling of connec­tion to the region.

The Hollen­bach plant is not only located in the green coun­try­side, it also has a lot of green tech­nology built into it. What are you most proud of?

Wagner: The credit belongs primarily to the designers and special­ists from a wide variety of trades. In an outstanding display of team­work, they were able to complete the plan­ning of this plant in just six months and build it in another six.

Which tech­nolo­gies are most note­worthy with regard to energy effi­ciency?

Wagner:A number of energy conser­va­tion measures have been imple­mented in the new plant. In addi­tion to a photo­voltaic system and the consis­tent use of compo­nents with the highest energy effi­ciency, the most outstanding feature is the intel­li­gent use of waste heat. We attain a primary energy consump­tion level that is 80 percent less than the value required by the German Energy Savings Ordi­nance for new build­ings.

How were you able to get the value so low?

Wagner: In indus­trial build­ings, in addi­tion to the energy demand for heating, factors such as the demand for cooling and venti­la­tion are eval­u­ated. Our tech­nology gives us a home advan­tage in this area. After all, we produce energy-saving EC fans here, and of course we use them in our own venti­la­tion and cooling systems. Thus we are in the green range, both in terms of the effi­ciency of the plant itself and the prod­ucts produced here.

What is the “green range” for indus­trial build­ings? Can you give concrete numbers?

Wagner: The primary energy consump­tion of the entire plant is about 210,000?kWh per year. Normally?—?if we used conven­tional technology?—?it would be a good million kWh. We keep over 300 tonnes of CO2 per year out of the environment?—?and save 75,000 EUR rela­tive to the annual oper­ating costs for heating, venti­la­tion and cooling. To attain these values, we have imple­mented a package of measures. The photo­voltaic system on the roof supplies up to 153 kilo­watts. To support the heating system, we use the temper­a­ture strat­i­fi­ca­tion in the build­ings. This temper­a­ture strat­i­fi­ca­tion is specif­i­cally induced using displace­ment venti­la­tion. We guide the warm air, which accu­mu­lates espe­cially in the higher strata in the produc­tion area, through a distri­b­u­tion system and into the cooler areas, such as the ware­house or ship­ping depart­ment. Another note­worthy feature is the sprin­kler reser­voir, which we use as a heat accu­mu­lator.

You use fire extin­guishing water as a heat accu­mu­lator?

Wagner: Yes, due to the size and design of the hall, we were required to install a sprin­kler system with a corre­sponding water reser­voir. Thus the base­ment of the building has a concrete tank with over one million litres of fire extin­guishing water. We use this water as a heat accu­mu­lator, for example for the heat given off by the compressor system, which, in turn, serves as the heat source for a heat pump. In summer, the heat pump is used for cooling as a chiller.

ebm-papst has invested about 15 million EUR into this plant. What busi­ness goals are being pursued with this invest­ment?

Wagner: Plan­ning for the new building began in Summer 2006. After the split from our sales partner for large fans, we initially added these prod­ucts to the produc­tion in our Mulfingen plant. However, Mulfingen was never designed for these prod­ucts; prob­lems were caused by the sheer size of the fans with diam­e­ters of up to one metre. We were liter­ally running out of space. The new building basi­cally gave us the oppor­tu­nity to build the plant around the produc­tion line, ensuring that produc­tion would be opti­mally suited to these fans. We see an excel­lent future, partic­u­larly for EC fans; the manu­fac­turing plant is currently designed for approx­i­mately 800,000 units per year. If it should prove inad­e­quate, we still have enough room to expand. Here, too, every­thing is going green.

The new Hollen­bach plant:

• Ground-breaking: 16 April 2007
• Begin­ning of move: November 2007/li>
• Employees: approx. 150
• Invest­ments: approx. 15 million EUR
• Produc­tion space: 13,500 square metres
• Manu­fac­turing capacity: 800,000 fans

Air-condi­tioning tech­nology:

• Venti­la­tion: 13 units with EC motors
• Heating and cooling pumps with the highest effi­ciency class
• Heating with displace­ment venti­la­tion
• Sprin­kler reser­voir as heat buffer: 1,100,000 litres
• Photo­voltaic system: 153 kW
• Primary energy consump­tion: 210,000 kWh/a (approx. 1/5 of stan­dard consump­tion)