Press release
04.06.2007 - Wedemark
Sennheiser to expand its site in Wedemark
Audio specialist Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG is planning to reorganize and expand the company’s headquarters and main production plant in Wennebostel (Wedemark). “Sennheiser has grown dramatically in recent years,” explained Volker Bartels, President Manufacturing and Logistics and Speaker of the Executive Committee at Sennheiser electronic. “Today, we are one of the leading audio brands worldwide. This reorganization will allow us to further expand the concept of a modern corporate headquarters and to give a fitting reflection of the Sennheiser brand. The planned extension of the existing architecture will ensure that the various corporate functions can work more closely together and can communicate faster and more effectively.” The first building project as part of the expansion program is a new factory building that will take over production from the Burgdorf plant 30 kilometers away. The Burgdorf site will be closed, but “no jobs will be lost. All 183 employees from Burgdorf will be able to continue their work in Wennebostel.”
“The strengthening of the Wedemark site will further accelerate the healthy growth of the Sennheiser Group and will increase our profitability,” said Volker Bartels, expressing his confidence in the project. “Two separate production sites in one region have a negative effect on communication and material flow. The reorganization will make the structures and processes faster and more efficient. We will be able to act more flexibly in a rapidly developing world market, thus ensuring that we continue to live up to our high quality standards.”
The production plant in Burgdorf was purchased by Prof. Dr. Fritz Sennheiser and Prof. Dr. Jörg Sennheiser in 1977 in order to bring together the manufacturing activities of two rented buildings in Burgdorf and the numerous homeworkers, who were still a common feature at that time, into a central location. “Sennheiser moved to nearby Burgdorf because there were not enough employees available in the area around Wennebostel,” Volker Bartels explained.
In the meantime, Sennheiser’s headquarters in Wennebostel, where the company was founded in 1945, has grown continuously. The acquisition of land around the site also created space for further expansion. The last major building project at the Wennebostel location was a state-of-the-art production building with a central Class 100 cleanroom in 2000 — and a further modern production facility will now be constructed next to this building. “The workplaces and production lines are arranged and designed according to the most modern criteria,” said Volker Bartels. “Today, a high level of flexibility and adaptability in production is more important than ever before.” Planning for the new building and reorganization has already begun, and the relocation of the Burgdorf site is expected to be completed by the beginning of 2009.
Numerous benefits for the audio specialist
“An integrated plant will substantially accelerate communication and material flow,” explained Volker Bartels. “There will no longer be a need to transport material between the plants. The physical proximity to the product development departments will allow a rapid exchange of information, for example in zero series and pre-series production. What is more, the reduction in costs will make a major contribution towards securing the future of the site.”
The mayor of Burgdorf, Alfred Baxmann, regrets the decision, “but, of course, we respect the reasons for the move. Sennheiser informed the City of Burgdorf about its plans at an early stage. Together with us, the company will now work on selling the site and its new utilization as a business location.”
The chairman of the works council, Reinhard Zwirner, also sees advantages for the employees, in spite of the longer travelling distances involved in some cases. “What was most important for us was that no jobs will be lost. We also welcomed the company’s commitment to Germany as a manufacturing location. And last but not least, the work environment for our colleagues from Burgdorf will be more modern and more attractive.” As Volker Bartels explained: “The money that we save due to lower administration costs and more efficient communication and processes will be invested in the quality of our work. I look forward to being able to unite our forces in the near future and work together from a stronger company headquarters.”
As one of the world’s leading manufacturers of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems, the Sennheiser Group with its headquarters in Wedemark near Hanover, Germany, had total sales of well over €300 million in 2006. Sennheiser has a total workforce of around 1,800 employees, of whom about 60% are employed in Germany. Sennheiser is active worldwide and, in addition to other partnerships, has its own sales subsidiaries in France, the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, India, Singapore, Canada, Mexico and the USA.
For further information about Sennheiser please visit us on the Internet at http://www.sennheiser.com/ or contact:
Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG
Press and PR • Edelgard Marquardt
Am Labor 1 • 30900 Wedemark • Germany
Phone: +49 (5130) 600-329
Fax: +49 (5130) 600-295
E-mail: marquare@sennheiser.com
