Annual Report 2012 - Knorr-Bremse AG.
Annual Report 2012 - Knorr-Bremse AG.
Annual Report 2012 - Knorr-Bremse AG.
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50<br />
<strong>Report</strong><br />
Site-specific projects // Rail vehicle systems<br />
<strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong><br />
prepares for further<br />
expansion of India’s<br />
rail infrastructure.<br />
New plant in India makes good progress<br />
In the year under review, construction work on the new <strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong> plant in Faridabad, India, made<br />
rapid progress. As a result, the official opening is set to go ahead as planned in the course of 2013.<br />
The new plant is being built in response to the growing demand the company is expecting to encounter<br />
on the fast-developing subcontinent in the next few years. One key factor here is the<br />
planned expansion of the transport infrastructure in India, with a modernized railway network forming<br />
one of the main pillars. Within this expansion, existing rail vehicles are being upgraded and orders<br />
placed for new ones, both areas in which <strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong> has played an active role in India for<br />
many years. The company’s existing plant, however, does not have the capacity to cope with rising<br />
levels of demand.<br />
<strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong> has located the new facility in the immediate vicinity of the existing plant – avoiding<br />
the loss of skilled staff that can result from relocation and retaining the valuable expertise of its employees.<br />
When the plant is opened, the 22,000 m² site will house both production operations and<br />
offices, with a workforce of some 400 employees producing brake control systems, bogie equipment,<br />
compressors and air dryers for rail vehicles. As part of <strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong>’s international strategy, these<br />
components will be manufactured largely for the Indian market in close collaboration with certified<br />
regional suppliers.<br />
Along with state-of-the-art production technologies, optimized plant logistics and an improved<br />
working environment for the employees, the new facility also presents an ecological focus. The design<br />
of the building conforms to green building standards, with energy-efficient air conditioning and<br />
high levels of insulation helping reduce its carbon footprint.<br />
<strong>Knorr</strong> Brake Corporation celebrates groundbreaking ceremony for new plant in North America<br />
For more than two decades the <strong>Knorr</strong> Brake Corporation operated successfully from its plant in Maryland,<br />
USA, but steady growth in the North American mass transit market, combined with three major<br />
orders for HVAC systems, meant the company had reached the limits of its production capacity. During<br />
the year under review, <strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong> therefore started to construct a new production plant, and the<br />
official groundbreaking ceremony was held in January <strong>2012</strong>. The new plant is located a few kilometers<br />
away from the current site at Westminster and will have a total floor space of some 22,000 m², where<br />
just under 300 employees will produce brake control systems, bogie equipment, compressors, air dryers,<br />
HVAC units and access systems.<br />
The architecture and layout of the building has been based on the modern design developed for new<br />
<strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong> facilities in recent years. It is based on the principles of <strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong>’s KPS global production<br />
system and meets the highest international standards of process organization, work efficiency,<br />
logistics and quality.<br />
The new Westminster facility also meets the requirements of the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental<br />
Design) guidelines, which include the use of rainwater for the building’s water supply, a<br />
particularly energy-efficient air-conditioning system and the intelligent use of natural light for the interior.<br />
A solar system has also been installed on the roof and will meet 40% of the plant’s energy requirements.<br />
When the new facility opens in the first half of 2013, this solar system will be the biggest<br />
in the entire region.<br />
Construction work started on new facility in Australia<br />
In Australia, <strong>Knorr</strong>-<strong>Bremse</strong> began the cross-functional merger of the four locations that the company<br />
has been operating in New South Wales since the acquisition of HVAC system manufacturer Sigma<br />
Coachair in 2010. The official groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion of the existing plant in