The foundation stone for a new factory building was laid yesterday at the ZAPF GmbH garage plant in Baar-Ebenhausen. This was the starting signal for the expansion and modernization of the Upper Bavarian site, for which investments of around 4.5 million euros have been budgeted. The construction work should be completed in spring next year.
“With the plant expansion, we want to strengthen the Baar-Ebenhausen site, which has been in existence since 1982, and equip it optimally for the future,” says Emmanuel Thomas, who manages ZAPF GmbH together with Jörg Günther. The model for the major investment is the ZAPF plant in Dülmen, North Rhine-Westphalia, which was expanded into one of the most modern garage plants in Europe in 2016. The new reinforced concrete building, for which the foundation stone has now been laid, will have a floor area of 100 by 28 meters after completion and will therefore be similar in size to the existing factory hall. Both halls will be connected by a gable wall opening, as the expansion and modernization of the plant also includes the existing production facilities. “As in Dülmen, we will be building a completely new, automated circulation system with transport trolleys, separate production stations and an adjoining drying chamber line in the two halls,” says plant manager Richard Zackel. These are not the only innovations: The purchase of an outfeed trolley will automate the removal of garages from the factory to the storage area, which was previously handled by truck. A new indoor crane and extendable work platforms will be installed in the new hall. Additional storage capacity is also planned in the circulation system area.
ZAPF is pursuing several goals with the modernization of the plant: “The already good quality of our ZAPF garages will be further optimized. At the same time, we can further improve occupational health and safety standards and cleanliness in the plant, so that our employees also benefit,” says Jörg Günter.
However, Baar-Ebenhausen is not the only ZAPF garage plant in which investments are currently being made. On a smaller scale, this also applies to the plant in Weidenberg in Upper Franconia, which is being equipped with two new garage transfer vehicles.
