Lenze, the world's leading automation firm for mechanical engineering, has today laid the foundations for a new Mechatronics Competence Campus (MCC) in Extertal, Germany in the presence of the Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia, Armin Laschet, the Mayor of Extertal, Monika Rehmert, and company shareholders.

Costing around 50 million euros, this state-of-the-art development and manufacturing site in North Rhine-Westphalia is the largest single investment in the company's 70-year history. The innovative project will secure employment for more than 800 members of staff, and is due to be completed at the end of 2019 and become operational in early 2020.

During the laying of the foundation stone, Christian Wendler, CEO of Lenze, said: "Lenze is on the up. As part of our Strategy 2020+, we have set ourselves ambitious global growth targets. We are therefore reorganising our site in Extertal and combining our bundled mechatronics competence under a single roof at the new Mechatronics Competence Campus for the first time. This investment clearly demonstrates our commitment to this location, secures our international competitiveness and offers our staff long-term prospects and jobs for the future."

"With the new campus, we are not only creating one of Germany's most future-oriented mechatronics production facilities, but above all an important benchmark for future collaboration. In future, our staff in Extertal will work together in agile, interdisciplinary teams in numerous openplan areas, developing the best mechatronic solutions and services for our global customers," continued Christian Wendler.

Babette Herbert, Lenze shareholder, added: "Lenze is a family business. Our 70-year-long history and our tradition are our roots and provide us with a strong foundation. But this heritage is only useful if it helps to create the future. We as the Lenze shareholders are committed to this target and its fulfillment in the upcoming decades. Today's laying of the foundation for the MCC fills us with great pride. We are filled with pleasant anticipation and we are looking into Lenze's future with great optimism. This future is already taking shape with the Mechatronic competence campus in Extertal. "
Monika Rehmert, Mayor of Extertal, commented: "Lenze's willingness to invest in its founding location is impressive confirmation of its commitment to Extertal. In recognition of 60 years of Lenze in Extertal, the former Siemensstraße leading to the future MCC has been renamed ElisabethBelling-Straße. Elisabeth Belling, daughter of the company's founder, Hans Lenze, was heavily involved in the management of Lenze for many years."

Armin Laschet, Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia, stated: "The Mechatronics Competence Campus is an impressive example of the ultra-modern processes of Industry 4.0, where innovative products will soon be manufactured. Lenze is therefore preparing itself and its production for the international competition of the future. This investment is a clear commitment by the family business - to the Extertal site and the economic region of North Rhine-Westphalia."

With the recent presentation of its Strategy 2020+, Lenze has set out a clearly defined future direction, focusing on sustainable growth in its three strategic pillars: mechatronics, systems and digital. The aim is to increase turnover to 850 million euros by 2020/21 - with the opportunities presented by digitalisation, the company is even setting its sights on a billion.
The decision to invest in the Mechatronics Competence Campus opens a new chapter for Lenze in its first strategic pillar, mechatronics, and will combine three formerly geographically separate sites under a single roof at the MCC in Extertal. With this step, Lenze is securing the future of the site it founded over 60 years ago and creating sustainable future prospects for its around 800 staff.

The use of cutting-edge technology, based on Industry 4.0, will also create new areas of activity and tasks in Extertal in the medium to long term. As a family firm that places people at the centre of its thoughts and actions, Lenze is already investing heavily in the training and development of its staff and preparing to be at the forefront of shaping digitalisation.

The new overall layout of the site supports a clear order and materials flow under lean production criteria and will be embedded in the common management of the hitherto independently operated production areas. This forms the basis for the "digital factory". The campus is a practical reflection of Industry 4.0. For example, networking and controlling are being fundamentally redesigned and driverless transport systems are to be used in production itself. The "technology centre" is the heart of the new campus, where everything revolves around product innovation and development. The spatial proximity of technology and production, as well as close cooperation in project teams, considerably reduces the "Time-2-Market", which particularly benefits the company's global customers. The MCC is also a crucial step towards promoting increased innovation and improving the results of the innovation process.

In summary:

• The Mechatronics Competence Campus is the largest single investment in Lenze's corporate history and a symbol of modern collaboration based on Industry 4.0.
• Combining three sites will remove departmental boundaries, encourage cooperation in agile, interdisciplinary teams and streamline processes.
• New products can therefore be launched faster than before. In future, Lenze's entire product development process will be much more efficient in Extertal: from the idea - through series production - to service.

The Lenze site in Groß Berkel in Lower Saxony remains its principal location for electronics production. Here too, Lenze will be investing in production equipment in the coming years, as part of its 2020+ growth strategy.