Leser, a manufacturer of safety valves, is significantly increasing its investments at the Hohenwestedt site in Schleswig-Holstein and is investing 41.3 million euros in a new construction project. Originally, only 11 million euros were planned. Managing Director Martin Leser emphasizes that the aim of the investment is to maintain existing jobs and create new ones. A 15,000 square meter production hall is planned, with construction due to be completed by March 2026.
This construction project heralds a series of modernization measures to strengthen Leser's position in the safety valve industry. Construction work began on November 22. In future, all production steps, which are currently spread across various rented buildings in Hohenwestedt, will be brought together in the new hall.
Robot technology to be used
In constructing its new building, the company is increasingly focusing on optimizing its logistics processes. Currently, some employees travel over ten kilometers every day to transport materials. In future, autonomous transport robots are to take over these tasks and thus reduce the strain on employees. In addition, Leser intends to increasingly automate simple work processes. According to Claudia Gröning of Leser, employees who lose their positions as a result will be retrained as skilled workers, as she told the Kieler Nachrichten.
Gröning emphasizes that many families from Hohenwestedt have been working at Leser for generations. The company runs its own training workshop to qualify skilled workers and is also facing a shortage of skilled workers. For this reason, Leser attaches particular importance to the training and further education of its own employees. Leser has not yet determined the exact number of jobs that will be created by the new production hall.
Production to become climate-neutral by 2035
In order to improve and expand the production of its safety valves, Leser is investing heavily in new technologies and building infrastructure. As part of this expansion, an automated long goods warehouse is being built next to the new building, which will be equipped with modern sawing machines to increase production speed. New office space will also be created to provide additional capacity and support the company's planned growth over the next few years.
Leser is also pursuing the ambitious goal of operating in a climate-neutral manner by 2035, as reported by IAD. To achieve this goal, the company plans to install photovoltaic systems on the roofs of its buildings, use air heat pumps and make efficient use of waste heat. Jörg Windmüller, Head of Quality and Environmental Management at Leser, reports that ten percent of the annual electricity requirement is already covered by existing photovoltaic systems. The roof of the new production hall will also be equipped with such a system.