Weidmüller Lays Foundation Stone for Logistics Center in Thuringia

With the largest single investment in the company’s history, the Detmold electronics specialist Weidmüller is poised for growth: A new logistics center is being built on a plot of over 72,000 square meters near Eisenach. Construction has been underway since autumn 2020, with completion planned for 2022.

(Detmold/Hörselberg-Hainich) With this investment in the double-digit millions, the family-owned company is setting the course for further growth and improved customer service in the shipping sector.

Just ten kilometers from the location of Thuringian Weidmüller GmbH (TWG), with optimal connections to the factory itself, the highway, and short distances to the two most important German freight airports in Frankfurt and Leipzig, Weidmüller is sharpening its logistics profile. The new building is the foundation for forward-looking and innovative logistics and an investment in the German location.

The new logistics center, operating under the project title “NGL” (Next Generation Logistics), will serve as the global hub for all products. “We are in a growth industry and provide innovative technologies and products that are crucial for the availability of machines, systems, and infrastructures,” explains Sales Director Dr. Timo Berger. “To meet the increasing dynamics of our markets, we must further optimize all supply chains. Digitalization and networking play an important role in this. With a new logistics concept, we can implement these requirements – from the shipping of our suppliers to the incoming goods of our customers – in a targeted and optimal manner.”

Long-term Corporate Planning

Despite the pandemic and uncertainty in 2020, postponing this construction project was not an option. “We must think more than ever about the time after the economic downturn and the incoming changes and align our actions accordingly,” explains Weidmüller CFO André Sombecki. As a medium-sized family business, Weidmüller plans the development of the company in the long term. “Only in this way can we remain efficient and be a reliable partner for our customers. This includes becoming faster, more flexible, and better in our delivery and customer service.”

At the groundbreaking ceremony on June 18, Weidmüller’s Technology Director and CEO Volker Bibelhausen referred to the construction project as a “flagship project.” Weidmüller was founded in Chemnitz more than 170 years ago, grew into a global player in Detmold starting in 1948, and soon after the reunification in 1990 opened its Thuringian location in Wutha-Farnroda. “Thuringia is located in the heart of Europe, and after feeling at home here for more than 30 years, the decision for the location of the logistics center was very easy,” Bibelhausen adds.

Politics Welcomes New Jobs

District Administrator Reinhard Krebs humorously stated that there are many lighthouses in the Wartburg district. “For the 160,000 people in the region and the local industry, this new location provides planning security and many good development opportunities,” he added.

Mayor Christian Blum is also pleased about the 80 jobs that will be created at the start of operations and emphasizes the good cooperation at the municipal level that is necessary to keep the economic location of Thuringia attractive.

Photo: © Weidmüller