STIHL celebrated a milestone in the construction of the new production logistics building in Waiblingen-Neustadt with a topping-out ceremony on 19 March. The shell of the building and the roof have been finished on schedule. The €40-million-plus investment is yet another clear sign of the company's commitment to Waiblingen. Advisory and supervisory board chairman Dr. Nikolas Stihl said in his address: "This project expresses our confidence in the future of the STIHL Group." The executive board chairman, Dr. Bertram Kandziora, praised the trouble-free progress of the construction work: "The adherence to deadlines and costs, and the excellent quality of the construction are the result of fruitful cooperation between all those involved in the project."
The total investment for the new building amounts to more than €40 million. By transferring production logistics from the present location in Ludwigsburg to STIHL Plant 2 in Waiblingen-Neustadt, the company will achieve gains in efficiency, reduce transportation costs and greatly simplify logistics. Production will be further optimized by the multifunction warehouse and an automated high-bay warehouse. The new building has a total volume of about 185,000 cubic meters, almost 15,000 square meters of floor space and is right next to production and assembly. A total of 13,500 cubic meters of reinforced concrete and 2,000 metric tons of structural steel have been used in the building.
The symbolic groundbreaking ceremony for the new production logistics building and the extension to the engineering center took place on 20 May 2014. Both buildings are to be inaugurated in 2016.