Following just ten months of construction, the new technology center of the Chemnitz-based machine and systems builder Oerlikon Barmag was opened on July 2, 2015. In the future, the 1,600 square meter new-building on Zwickauer Straße will be the venue for the development and testing primarily of extrusion systems for tapes and monofilaments along with winding/texturing machines, twisting machines and carbon fiber winders. Furthermore, the new, attractive building will be used as a showroom for Oerlikon Barmag innovations.
In the presence of Berthold Brehm, the deputy mayor of Chemnitz, and many of the 160 employees, the responsible Oerlikon Manmade Fibers segment managers symbolically cut the red ribbon on Thursday afternoon. “Today is a very special day for us, for our employees, for our entire company and also for the City of Chemnitz. With our investment in the new technology center, we are underlining the fact that our innovative power in the area of tape and monofilament systems is being concentrated, and consequently sustainably anchored, here in Chemnitz”, announced Steffen Husfeldt, who has been successfully managing the Chemnitz site for decades now, with pride.
The light-flooded, bright and friendly research & development center will be filled with life over the coming weeks. People and machines will be moving into the new building together. The space within the production facilities now vacant and to date used by Oerlikon Barmag for its research & development activities can now be utilized for other purposes. For example, to expand production capacities in manufacturing and assembly.
“If everything runs as planned, we will this year – thanks to an innovative product portfolio and the extraordinary commitment of our local management and our employees on-site and off-site with our customers throughout the world – experience maybe the most successful year in the 149-year history of the Chemnitz site,” stated Georg Stausberg, CEO of the Oerlikon Manmade Fibers segment.
The diversity of applications for tapes and monofilament yarns are currently making the Chemnitz-based Oerlikon Barmag technologies very attractive, because industrial textiles are very much on trend and are enjoying growing popularity in many sectors of the industry. Its applications range from carpet backing fabrics, artificial turf, geotextiles all the way through to the agricultural sector.
“Especially in the case of our extrusion systems, we are currently registering rising demand”, explained Managing Director Steffen Husfeldt. “In the case of our new EvoTape system, for example, we have several very decisive advantages over our competitors that make newly investing in our tape systems very interesting for our customers.”
As an innovative technology company, all new developments of the market leader for monofilament and tape systems set benchmarks in terms of profitability, process stability and sustainability. The customers of the Chemnitz-based manmade fiber systems builder are spread around the globe. Whether in Europe, America or Asia – they will all once again be looking at Chemnitz in the future and focusing on the new ideas from the innovation think-tank that now features a new guise.
Chemnitz is the oldest site of what is today the Oerlikon Manmade Fibers segment: founded as Carl Hamel AG in 1866, the company was located at its current site in Schönau as early as 1896. Following World War II, the plant became VEB Textima Spinn- und Zwirnereimaschinenbau, with the Remscheid-based Barmag AG taking over the well-established company in 1991. Since 2007, the enterprise has been owned by the Swiss Oerlikon technology conglomerate as part of Oerlikon Barmag.
Looking back on almost 150 years of company history, numerous groundbreaking product developments testify to the innovative spirit of the textile machine builder. Today, 160 permanent members of staff work at the Chemnitz site, 36 alone working in research & development. With its innovative, technologically-sophisticated products and its strong market position, the Chemnitz-based century-old company is an attractive regional employer.
