The Andritz Group operates 15 manufacturing plants in Europe, North America, and China.  These sites concentrate on the production of key components for Andritz equipment and systems.

A highly qualified labor force with long-term experience and state-of-the-art production systems ensure high product quality and reliable, on-schedule order execution.

Concentrating on key competencies

Key components are manufactured and assembled at Andritz’s own workshops to ensure that customer requirements and contractual obligations are met.  In-house manufacturing accounts for approximately 45% of the overall Andritz manufacturing volume.  The remaining portion is sourced from qualified sub-suppliers who are subjected to continuous quality and progress monitoring.

Managing workload

Outsourcing is one tool Andritz uses to manage workload.  In addition, a temporary workforce is utilized to cope with fluctuations.  At several manufacturing sites, measures have been agreed upon with the works councils to implement more flexible working hours.

Shorter lead times and on-time production

Short lead times and on-time production are critical to success in the businesses Andritz manages. Continuous monitoring ensures that performance in these areas is maintained at a high level.  In 2004, several projects were implemented to further reduce lead times at the manufacturing sites in Graz, Austria; Savonlinna, Finland; Regensburg, Germany; and Geldrop, Netherlands.

Major developments in 2004

Due to the high Order Intake for the Andritz Group in 2004, workload for the Andritz manufacturing facilities reached a record level.  Workload was especially high at the sites in Graz, Austria; Savonlinna, Finland; Cologne, Germany; and the two sites in China.

Manufacturing facilities in Finland were reorganized.  The workshops in Varkaus and Hollola were sold to partner companies who will continue to serve Andritz.  

Comprehensive optimization measures were initiated at Andritz Fiedler, a specialist in manufacturing screen baskets for fiber screening.  Andritz Fiedler production sites in Alpharetta, Georgia in the USA, and Plzen in the Czech Republic were closed and the screen basket manufacturing in Regensburg, Germany was modified to enable a continuous production flow.  This led to a substantial increase in productivity and capacity and to an improvement in on-time performance.

The manufacturing facility in Cologne, Germany, acquired with the purchase of Bird Machine, was reorganized to specialize in manufacturing and servicing high-quality centrifuges for industrial applications.

Consumables production for pelleting equipment - previously handled by four manufacturing sites - was concentrated at a newly erected, state-of-the-art facility in Geldrop (Netherlands).  Manufacturing has successfully started at this new facility which is the world’s largest production of replacement dies for pellet machines.

Andritz Technologies’ new manufacturing center in Foshan, China has also started operations.  In view of the rising order volume in this region, the production capacity of the center is being expanded.

With the acquisition of the assets of Otto Kaiser in the autumn of 2004 another manufacturing site was added to the Group.  The facility in Bretten, Germany specializes in manufacturing and assembling large presses up to 360 tons.