Bürkert invests around 20 million in new Centre of Competence for Polymers
Jürgen Häberle, Head of Construction, Toolmaking and Plastics Production, describes the new Centre of Competence for Polymers built at the Bürkert Campus Criesbach as a “milestone in plastics technology at Bürkert”. The approximately 6,000-square-metre building, which was completed in December 2024, now houses the entire plastics value chain. The space freed up as part of the construction work on the campus will be used in future for the expansion of customer-specific system development and machining technology. This will increase this space by around 30 percent and enable further growth at the site. Bürkert invested a total of around 20 million euros in the construction at the Criesbach campus – a clear commitment to the site, but also to the traditionally high level of vertical integration and the associated independence of the company.
“Bringing all departments together under one roof connects employees along the entire process chain. This enables us to work efficiently, facilitates the rapid introduction of innovations into the real process and therefore guarantees excellent results for our customers,” says Jürgen Häberle, delighted with the newly created framework conditions. Now the entire plastics technology process chain is moving closer together. All requirements for the plastic component, the appropriate materials and the planned production steps are carefully checked and coordinated at an early stage. The plastic components are designed, qualified and manufactured in a joint effort by Development, Toolmaking and the technology centre. The analysis laboratory and technology centre also benefit from the newfound proximity: whenever investigations are required – for example, when introducing new materials or manufacturing technologies or when finding solutions to new customer requirements – they can be optimally processed and tackled in close cooperation between the teams.
In the long term, the new centre is aiming to be “the polymer excellence centre for the Bürkert Group’s global manufacturing network,” says Stefan Müller, Chief Technical Officer at Bürkert, describing the key role of the building for the future of the company and adding: “With its expertise at the Criesbach site, Bürkert has the opportunity to develop and process customer enquiries from all over the world right through to series production. The series can then be produced at production sites in Germany, France, the USA, China or India – which makes supply chains stable and flexible, reduces the carbon footprint of the products and creates important proximity to customers and the market.”
Together with project partners, the management and representatives of the press, the process managers of the Plastics department officially opened the new Centre of Competence for Polymers at the Bürkert Campus Criesbach at the end of May: “This new building makes it possible for both our partners and our employees to experience on a daily basis how we have been working in a process-oriented manner for decades and with the focus on customers. The new proximity in the Centre of Competence for Polymers strengthens our vertical integration and makes us a little less dependent on fragile supply chains and a rapidly changing environment,” Stefan Müller summarises.
