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From Markus van Appeldorn
The Austrian-based Palfinger Group has been the largest industrial employer in Löbau for a number of years. Over the past two years, the Group has invested 14 million euros in the site, built new halls and bundled its entire aerial work platform assembly operations here. with a working height of up to 90 meters. When Alexander Susanek looks at this location now, a few months after the completion and opening of the extension, he doesn't mince his words: "Löbau is our European hub, our most important factory for aerial work platforms." As Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Palfinger, Susanek is responsible for product development, purchasing and production - and Löbau is his main area of responsibility.
When Alexander Susanek comes to Löbau from the Group headquarters in Salzburg at least four times a year, it's not just to check up on things. With the expansion of the plant, the site has become the innovation center of the Group - and these technical innovations have long since emerged from the starting blocks and are securing the future of the Löbau site.
Ever more powerful, ever lighter
"We want to expand and intensify the business," he says - and despite his company's already significant role on the global market, he still sees considerable potential for growth. "And access platforms are an area that we want to expand significantly," Susanek continues. Part of this growth potential is to be exploited by a new series of access platforms, for which a prototype has already been built in Löbau - the so-called "Tec series" - basically a technical extension of the existing product portfolio. "We presented the Tec series a week ago at the "Platformers Days" in Karlsruhe for the first time. The response from the industry was convincing," says Susanek. The series would be characterized by higher performance and improved ease of use.
A layman would probably not be able to distinguish this "Tec series" visually from the previous lifting platforms. And yet Palfinger is making itself future-proof. Because the weight of these platforms is becoming increasingly important. "Modern trucks are getting heavier and heavier with the prescribed assistance systems. However, the total weight with the platform fitted must not increase," explains Susanek - so the weight must be optimized. The Seifhennersdorf site, where components such as cages and telescopic arms for smaller models are made from aluminum, plays a special role here - the Group has particular expertise in aluminum welding in Seifhennersdorf. "The site with 63 employees in Seifhennersdorf benefits when we have high capacity utilization in Löbau," he says. And there is a high level of capacity utilization in Löbau. In the last two years, 84 new employees have been hired here - there are now just over 300.
Why electric stages are the future
Another innovation from the Group has already been leaving the Löbau plant in series production for several months - albeit still in small quantities: purely electrically powered platforms, loaded onto purely electrically powered trucks. "In conventional models, the hydraulics of the platform are powered by the truck's diesel engine. We want to offer emission-free and low-noise solutions," says Susanek. And this is not just a matter of love for the environment, but an ever-increasing economic necessity.
"There are areas of work where, for example, you can't leave a diesel truck running all night to operate an aerial work platform," he explains, adding: "This will become more and more common. Local authorities will increasingly insist on zero-emission and low-noise work platforms for inner-city use." Operators of purely electric platforms loaded onto e-trucks will therefore soon have a competitive advantage over operators of conventional platforms. E-trucks are virtually unheard of in road traffic. There are still hardly any convincing solutions for use in long-distance freight transport. However, e-trucks for work platforms do not have to transport goods hundreds or thousands of kilometers across Europe. "They might have a journey of 70 kilometers," says Susanek.
After rumor: "No interest in allotment garden plots"
Palfinger has no shortage of skilled workers at the Löbau site. "We also train apprentices ourselves and can take on all trainees," says site manager Matthias Bulda - and also provides proof that Palfinger is an attractive employer: "We recently had another family party here on the site with 1,200 guests." And Susanek adds: "This shows that we manufacture products here that can be experienced and of which we can be proud." And: "We want to continue to grow, ten new positions have been advertised."
And then there's this rumor that Alexander Susanek can clear up. Last year, a real estate company bought up the land of a garden plot adjacent to the Palfinger property, the allotment gardeners now have to vacate the area. This is why the rumor arose that Palfinger had acquired this property from the investor or wanted to do so. Susanek clarifies: "We have neither acquired this land nor do we have any interest in it."
