Ziehl-Abegg is building a new factory at the Hohenlohe Business Park for the production of energy-efficient electric drives and fans, in an investment worth €28m.

The existing site is already operating at full capacity, making further growth there impossible. As a result, production will be relocated from Künzelsau to the new site and will be expanded.

Up to now, energy-saving drives and fans have been manufactured primarily in the plant on Würzburger Straße in Künzelsau. The investment includes the new building as well as new machines.

At the ZA Kupferzell plant, space will be created for the manufacture of modern energy-saving fans (EC technology).

The relocation of the existing production facilities will take place at the end of 2017. This will be accompanied by the transfer of 140 jobs from Künzelsau (Würzburger Straße) to the new building.

Peter Fenkl, chief executive of Ziehl-Abegg, said: “With this investment we are strengthening the position of Germany and Hohenlohe in particular as a manufacturing location.”

At the official ground-breaking ceremony, the Baden-Württemberg Minister of Economic Affairs, Dr Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, emphasised the future sustainability of Baden-Württemberg’s mechanical engineering industry.

The number of employees at Ziehl-Abegg in the Hohenlohe Business Park will therefore rise in the coming year from the existing 480 to well over 620. Just how many additional jobs will be created within what period of time at the ZA Kupferzell plant cannot be realistically anticipated at this point in time, the company says.