Annual Report 2012 - Knorr-Bremse AG.

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