DEHN – More capacity for the megatrends of our time: DEHN opens new main plant in Mühlhausen | DEHN International
After a construction phase of around two years, DEHN is opening its new and ultra-modern main plant in Mühlhausen.
At over 50 million euros, the building represents the largest single investment in the company’s 114-year history. The capacity expansion was urgently needed to meet the rapidly increasing global demand for DEHN products. The investment decision at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic is not only a forward-looking milestone in the continuation of DEHN’s success story, but also a clear and long-term commitment to the Neumarkt region.
“Global megatrends such as renewable energies, electric mobility and digitalisation are key drivers of growth in recent years,” says Dr Philipp Dehn, Chairman of the Board of DEHN SE. “Energy and data networks of the future can only function reliably with appropriate protection solutions. DEHN offers these solutions. Demand for our products therefore remains high and we see exciting global market opportunities in the future. The new and innovative plant in Mühlhausen will make a significant contribution in this respect.”
The new site is not only a sign of the company’s strong growth and innovative strength, but also of its sense of responsibility towards its employees, the environment and the region. The new building fulfils the high requirements of the KfW40 standard, making it one of the most modern and sustainable industrial buildings in Bavaria. The ecological highlights include the use of district heating, building heating and cooling by means of concrete core activation, a 3,400 m² green roof and photovoltaic systems with an output of approx. 1,250 kWp. This means that DEHN produces around 60% of the energy required there itself.
The new site also offers optimum conditions for the approximately 600 DEHN employees who work at state-of-the-art, ergonomic and height-adjustable (production) workstations. This also applies to the group of “inclusive workplace” jobs for people with disabilities, who are integrated directly into the production process and thus into the core workforce in close cooperation with Lebenshilfe Neumarkt.
“In Mühlhausen, we combine the latest advances in ergonomics with manufacturing innovation and use the opportunities provided by digitalisation to optimally integrate the workstations into the production process”, explains Christian Köstler, COO of DEHN SE.
“For us, this means that workstations can be set up ergonomically and individually and are meaningfully supported by digital processes. Materials are supplied by automated guided vehicles (AGVs), which in turn ensure a smooth production process.”
The new production facility is an extension of the existing logistics centre that DEHN opened in Mühlhausen back in 2014. The main plant covers a large part of the production volume, which is delivered from Mühlhausen all over the world.
SourceDEHN
EMR Analysis
More information on DEHN: See the full profile on EMR Executive Services
More information on Dr. Philipp Dehn (Chairman of the Board & CEO, DEHN SE + Acting CSO, DEHN SE + Chairman, ZVEI): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services
More information on Christian Köstler (Chief Operation Officer, DEHN SE): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services
More information on the KfW40 Standard from the German Reconstruction Loan Corporation (KfW): https://www.kfw.de/kfw.de-2.html + https://www.kfw.de/inlandsfoerderung/Privatpersonen/Neubau/Das-Effizienzhaus/ + The efficiency house level indicates the class of energy efficiency. Anyone who achieves efficiency house level 40 and meets additional sustainability requirements can receive a subsidy for this. The key figure 40 indicates that the efficiency house requires only 40 % primary energy compared to a reference building (in accordance with the Building Energy Act). In addition, the transmission heat loss is only 55% of the reference building. The structural thermal insulation is therefore 45 % better.
EMR Additional Notes:
- Kilowatt (kW):
- A kilowatt is simply a measure of how much power an electric appliance consumes—it’s 1,000 watts to be exact. You can quickly convert watts (W) to kilowatts (kW) by diving your wattage by 1,000: 1,000W 1,000 = 1 kW.
- Megawatt (MW):
- One megawatt equals one million watts or 1,000 kilowatts, roughly enough electricity for the instantaneous demand of 750 homes at once.
- Gigawatt (GW):
- A gigawatt (GW) is a unit of power, and it is equal to one billion watts.
- According to the Department of Energy, generating one GW of power takes over three million solar panels or 310 utility-scale wind turbines
- KiloWatt ‘peak’ (kWp):
- kWp stands for kilowatt ‘peak’ power output of a system. It is most commonly applied to solar arrays. For example, a solar panel with a peak power of 3kWp which is working at its maximum capacity for one hour will produce 3kWh. kWp (kilowatt peak) is the total kw rating of the system, the theoretical ‘peak’ output of the system. e.g. If the system has 4 x 270 watt panels, then it is 4 x 0.27kWp = 1.08kWp.
- The Wp of each panel will allow you to calculate the surface area needed to reach it. 1 kWp corresponds theoretically to 1,000 kWh per year.
- Cobots (Collaborative Robots):
- A collaborative robot, also known as a cobot, is a robot that is capable of learning multiple tasks so it can assist human beings. In contrast, autonomous robots are hard-coded to repeatedly perform one task, work independently and remain stationary.
- Intended to work hand-in-hand with employees. These machines focus more on repetitive tasks, such as inspection and picking, to help workers focus more on tasks that require problem-solving skills.
- A robot is an autonomous machine that performs a task without human control. A cobot is an artificially intelligent robot that performs tasks in collaboration with human workers.
- According to ISO 10218 part 1 and part 2, there are four main types of collaborative robots: safety monitored stop, speed and separation, power and force limiting, and hand guiding.
- Autonomous Mobile Robot (AMR):
- Any robot that can understand and move through its environment without being overseen directly by an operator or on a fixed predetermined path. AMRs have an array of sophisticated sensors that enable them to understand and interpret their environment, which helps them to perform their task in the most efficient manner and path possible, navigating around fixed obstructions (building, racks, work stations, etc.) and variable obstructions (such as people, lift trucks, and debris). Though similar in many ways to automated guided vehicles (AGVs), AMRs differ in a number of important ways. The greatest of these differences is flexibility: AGVs must follow much more rigid, preset routes than AMRs. Autonomous mobile robots find the most efficient route to achieve each task, and are designed to work collaboratively with operators such as picking and sortation operations, whereas AGVs typically do not.
- Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV):
- An AGV system, or automated guided vehicle system, otherwise known as an automatic guided vehicle, autonomous guided vehicle or even automatic guided cart, is a system which follows a predestined path around a facility.
- Three types of AGVs are towing, fork trucks, and heavy load carriers. Each is designed to perform repetitive actions such as delivering raw materials, keep loads stable, and complete simple tasks.
- The main difference between an AGV and an AMR is that AMRs use free navigation by means of lasers, while AGVs are located with fixed elements: magnetic tapes, magnets, beacons, etc. So, to be effective, they must have a predictable route.
- Autonomous Case-handling Robots (ACR):
- Autonomous Case-handling Robot (ACR) systems are highly efficient “Goods to Person” solutions designed for totes & cartons transportation and process optimization, providing efficient, intelligent, flexible, and cost-effective warehouse automation solutions through robotics technology.