Fendt opens new loader wagon production in Wolfenbüttel
- Fendt has opened a new production facility for loader wagons at the Wolfenbüttel site in Germany
- The inauguration of the development and production site was attended by representatives from politics and business, employees of the site, as well as customers and sales partners
Roundbalers have been manufactured on the factory premises in Wolfenbüttel, Lower Saxony, Germany, since 1899 and in 2017, AGCO/Fendt acquired the traditional baler site in Wolfenbüttel (formerly Welger Werke). Since then, more than 20 million euros have been invested to build a modern and sustainable development and production site here.
Since September 2022, all models of Fendt loader wagons are also assembled here in a 4,200 m² production hall. A further 10,000 m² of logistics space has been added for the loader wagon assembly.
The highlight of the opening was the handover of the first Fendt Tigo manufactured in Wolfenbüttel to a Dutch farmer. During the subsequent factory tours, the invited guests were able to see the loader wagons and round baler assembly for themselves.
Derived from their history, our loader wagons already have an excellent reputation among customers as a premium product. This is exactly what we want to continue and expand. For Fendt, the loader wagon is a key machine for the Fendt Full Line product range. Precisely because the market for loader wagons is manageable worldwide, we want to and must build the best loader wagons for our customers. With the expansion of the Wolfenbüttel site, we are investing both in a state-of-the-art development location for engineers and in a modern production location to ensure quality in development and production,” says Christoph Gröblinghoff, Chairman of the Fendt Management Board.
In total, more than 20 million euros have been invested in the Wolfenbüttel site over the last three years. In 2020 and 2021, the production line for the round balers was already rebuilt and set up for the future. Since then, all models are produced on one production line. This year, this was followed by the construction and start of loader wagon assembly.
“It has been a long and arduous road to today’s start of the loader wagon assembly. We have been able to empty entire halls through comprehensive process optimization and consolidation of the round bale production. We then gutted these and prepared them for the new production. Over the summer of 2022, we built the new assembly line from scratch,” reports Jakob Arnold, plant manager at the Wolfenbüttel site. An additional 60 jobs for permanent employees have been created here at the site for the new areas of activity. All workplaces are modern and ergonomically designed.
“Quality is manufactured here,” Jakob Arnold reports about the Fendt site in Wolfenbüttel. “I am very proud of our workforce. We have managed all the conversions in parallel with Corona as well as procurement crises and have repaid the trust placed in us by AGCO and Fendt. We have positioned our tradition-rich site for the future.”
The new assembly line enables the production of a wide variety of eight series and 25 different loader wagon models on one line. With the aid of a scissor lift, employees on the production line can also work at heights of up to 4.10 m on the large loader wagons. A new LED lighting concept with motion detectors or the switch to chrome-free paints contributes to more sustainable production.