"So far, the recently purchased plant in India has already been producing around 18 million metres of corrugated tube a year with two production facilities. Until we install state-of-the-art extrusion lines there in 2017, the mobile factory will actively help us respond to the enormous potential in one of the most densely populated parts of the world in a customer-oriented way," explains Schlemmer CEO Josef Minster, who together with Schlemmer engineers developed and implemented the concept of the mobile factory in 2010.
The innovative production facility makes it possible for the first time to relocate production from a stationary production plant to a mobile container that can be loaded onto a lorry or ship or into an aeroplane. The mobile factory is ready for production within two to three hours and requires no more than two employees to operate it. 25 different tools and three materials enable production of two to three thousand different Schlemmer products. For an average corrugated tube, the output is up to 22 metres a minute - just over 21,000 metres in one shift, and in three-shift operation up to 62,000 metres a day.
As well as flexibly increasing the production capacity, this in-house development has a further advantage that directly benefits Schlemmer customers. "The mobile factory not only saves on transport costs for our products, but also reduces the unit costs, as the necessary materials are always obtained from the nearest raw material markets," adds Schlemmer CEO Josef Minster.
In 2012, Schlemmer received the prestigious VDA Logistics Award from the German Association of the Automotive Industry for the unique concept and the implementation of the mobile factory.