Opening of Plant 2

The great day arrived on January 17, 2020:

Following the completion of Plant 2 at the end of November, its grand opening was celebrated by customers, suppliers, Gottenheim Mayor Christan Riesterer, members of the local administration, the town council, the team of architects headed by Klaus Wehrle, Ralf Dürrwächter, the Managing Director of the VDWF (Society of Tool and Die Makers), the craftsmen involved and several former property owners, as well as employees from AHP Merkle locations in Gottenheim, Italy, Portugal, Spain, China and Germany. 

Located within sight of Gottenheim on highway B31 West, the building currently has a floor space of 2,100 m² for the Assembly, Storage, and Dispatch Teams. 

The complete layout of Plant 1 has been changed. From the 11th to the 28th of November, a total of 34 machines with a total weight of 207 tons were moved internally so that the 14 machines previously located in Waldkirch-Kollnau (weighing a total of 69 tons) could be moved starting on December 2.  

276 tons of equipment was moved within 22 days, not counting the corresponding tool cabinets, workbenches etc. All of this had to be accomplished while normal operation continued!

At present, 235 employees work for AHP Merkle, of which 213 are stationed in Gottenheim (including the 19 employees who previously worked in Waldkirch-Kollnau). When the company moved to Gottenheim in 2010, it employed exactly 100 employees. 

During the 10 years in Gottenheim, AHP Merkle has developed splendidly and increased sales by 197%. However, 2019 was a difficult year. The high costs for the move and the new plant (corresponding to a total investment of 5,570,000 euros, not including VAT) and the currently difficult situation in the automotive sector have not left us unscathed. We concluded the year 2019 with a 9% decline in sales. 

To the press report