Hof, 24 November 2011 – “Competence for water” – the motto of the town of Hof and also the central theme of the grand opening event at Wilo’s Hof plant. Together with the town’s Lord Mayor, Dr Harald Fichtner, Dr Holger Krasmann, CTO WILO SE, and Eike Dölschner, Head of Submersible & High Flow Pumps, opened the new international training centre BIZ, the extended training workshop and the modernised development offices. In addition, the testing facility extension building was presented.

 

Extended training workshop with state-of-the-art equipment for young professionals
Wilo’s Hof plant looks after the training of 50 young people year on year. This makes it one of the biggest training companies in the region. The dual study & training programme is particularly popular. Wilo provides a one-year long, in-house training course as an introduction to the business and then continues to accompany the trainees during a seven-semester course at Hof University of Applied Sciences. “It is part of Wilo’s corporate philosophy to support young people and to offer them the opportunity of a solid third-level education. In this way we train our own mechanical and industrial engineers and contribute actively towards tackling the skills shortage in the region”, explained Dr Holger Krasmann during his speech. Wilo in Hof trains mainly electricians, industrial mechanics and technical product designers and accompanies students during their Bachelor of Science course in mechanical engineering as part of the study & training programme.

New international training centre (BIZ) opened in Hof
Wilo is planning to further expand the Hof location of competence to meet global demands in the Water Management sector. By opening an international training centre at its Hof location, WILO SE is once again investing in employee skills. In addition, Wilo offers top-quality training in high-efficiency solutions for the water and wastewater management sector to their customers. Apart from tailor-made products, Wilo experts in the new practical applications training room also demonstrate product solutions in use. Practical exercises and simulations are also part of the programme.

Individual customer events complete the range of services on offer in the international training catalogue. More than 130 training courses have already been scheduled for 2012. The events on offer at the BIZ range from exclusive training courses in small groups to large events for up to 100 participants.

 

New development offices opened
The plant in Hof is the Wilo Group’s global lead engineering centre for submersible pumps. Since Wilo’s takeover of the EMU Group in 2003 the company has continued to develop very successfully. Today approximately 480 employees work in the Wilo plant in Hof. The growth of the location is reflected in Wilo’s comprehensive modernisation of their development offices. The new offices are equipped with the latest lighting and air-conditioning technologies.

Wilo put special emphasis on an open and communication-friendly layout of the work stations to promote the exchange of information and ideas among employees participating in development projects.

 

Presentation of the new high-performance testing facilities building
On the occasion of presenting the new high-performance testing facilities building at the Hof plant, Dr Holger Krasmann emphasised in particular the importance of in-house research and development during his speech. “Energy efficiency is a mega trend. The future belongs to those who save energy. So Wilo invests considerable sums into research and development of high-efficiency products every year. In 2011 alone we made a budget of 34 million euros available to further develop our innovative technology. By building the new testing facilities and opening our modern development offices we are sending an important signal in our claim to be technology leader”, says Krasmann.

The test basin will hold one million litres of water. To put this into perspective: the average bath tub holds approximately 200 litres of water. The new test basin will therefore hold the same volume of water as 5,000 bath tubs. The large volume is necessary to test pumps with a power of up to two megawatts.

 

Innovations for conserving resources
Energy and resource efficiency are becoming increasingly important in the Water Management sector. The water market is now a global market with growing demand. The reasons for this are complex.

 

Water consumption per capita currently rises by approximately 2.5 per cent every year. This value is about double that of the population growth rate and is leading to a rapidly growing demand in particular in water supply, sewage disposal and wastewater treatment. An additional factor is the fact that 1.4 billion people still do not have access to clean drinking water. Around 2.6 billion people are without sanitation and approximately every 20 seconds a child dies as a result of having to drink contaminated water. For those reasons, the United Nations have declared access to clean water a universal human right. The organisation set a millennium target of cutting the number of people without access to drinking water and sanitation by half by 2015. “In the supply sector we see the most urgent need for action. In order to move water we need pumps - ideally high-efficiency pumps. So we continue to invest in our company’s capacity for innovation, to develop products with maximum energy and resource efficiency”, emphasises Dr Holger Krasmann.

 

Head of division Eike Dölschner also stated that he was extremely satisfied with the way the Hof production location is being developed and thanked the town of Hof for an outstanding partnership. “Today’s grand opening proves once again how successfully we can work at this location. We have achieved a lot and the plant has grown continuously over the past years. We are well positioned here in Hof and we will continue the growth trend under the “Competence for Water” motto. We are also extremely committed to training and professional development at this location. As a technology company that is very active in research we have a long-term need for highly skilled young professionals and highly qualified and experienced experts in their fields. This becomes even more important in the context of the big trends for the future that demand our full capacity for innovation”, says Dölschner. “The presence of Wilo in Hof also adds to the reputation of the town and the surrounding region of Upper Franconia as the competence centre for water in Bavaria.”

 

The Wilo Group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of pumps and pump systems for heating, ventilation and air conditioning as well as for water supply, sewage disposal and wastewater treatment. The technology company is represented by over 60 subsidiaries world-wide and in the past financial year sales exceeded one billion euro for the first time in its history.