Gardner Denver enhances manufacturing capabilities

Vacuum pump and compressor manufacturer, Gardner Denver, is investing over $10,850,000 million in a new centre of excellence at its Simmern production site in Germany, home to the CompAir range of compressors.

The project is due for completion at the end of 2016 and will result in optimized processes and modern assembly techniques to deliver a enhanced range of oil-lubricated, oil-free and portable screw compressors to customers in the UK and globally.

Colin Mander, Regional Director for Gardner Denver explains:

"Alongside the continuous improvement of our Redditch production site for Hydrovane and high-pressure compressors in the UK, we also see huge potential in creating a centre of excellence in Simmern to enhance our service to CompAir customers around the world.

“The majority of the investment is funding new machinery for compressor production, which allows us to increase our capacity and flexibility. In addition, the existing assembly concepts of stationary systems will be converted into a continuous flow production system, which will increase productivity and reduce time and costs.

“The increasing digitalization and smart communication options of our compressors coupled with the energy-savings measures set by the European Eco-Design Directive creates new challenges for all our engineering teams. The investment in Simmern will keep us on the forefront by providing a platform for continuous improvement for the future.”

The next milestone is to expand production capacity further. As part of this, the 7.5 to 11 kW range of CompAir oil-lubricated screw compressors, which were previously manufactured at the plant in Italy, will now be produced in Simmern in addition to the existing product ranges.