Space for the future

DI Michael Kiel is EVVA’s Operations Officer. ­ he explained to SECURITYNEWS that the new building is just a puzzle piece in the path to EVVA’s future.

What will the new extension look like and what will its main functions be?
Kiel: The new extension is not only intended to expand the existing location, but also to bring significant improvements in efficiency. A basement, a ground floor and four further floors will be built on a 650 m2 ground area. We are thus creating a new floor area of around 4,000 m2. This closes the existing building gap in the direction of Johann-Hoffmann-Platz at the back of the company site.

Why did EVVA decide on this major investment?
Kiel: EVVA is now setting the course for the next 100 years. We want to continue to offer our partners and customers high quality, innovative products, reliability and above all fair prices. This will be possible in the new building. Here we have the space to produce our new future-oriented products and to manufacture the existing solutions more efficiently.

Can you give us a concrete idea of what will be accommodated in the new building?
We want to expand our product range. But that’s not all. De facto, the new building should massively ­support three large thematic blocks: production, logistics, safety and quality. We are thus sending out clear signals as to which direction EVVA should take in the future: New products and expansion of existing product lines, increased speed, improved delivery reliability and proven EVVA quality will continue to be the order of the day over the next 100 years, and this combined with a pronounced focus on sustainability.

When will the new building be operational?
We are currently in the submission phase. We expect to have the ground-breaking ceremony at the end of September. We expect it to be fully operational in early 2021.

Wouldn’t it be cheaper to move EVVA to a greenfield site?
The management has consciously decided against this. EVVA has its roots here in Meidling. This is where its know-how is at home. A move to the south or north of Vienna would not have been cheaper from a cost point of view, but would have resulted in a reduction in the quality of travel and transport connections. And a relocation to the supposedly cheap East would have resulted in a loss of know­ledge and quality that we did not want to risk under any circumstances. In addition, EVVA has already achieved such a high degree of automation that wage costs are now no longer so significant. Our employees are qualified specialists who are not easily replaced in the middle of nowhere.

This is not going to be cheap?
For the new building 5 million Euro are budgeted. But that’s only one aspect.  EVVA is planning total investments of more than EUR 20 million by 2022. Because we will be investing massively in new, future-oriented products in the coming years. We’ve got a lot in the pipeline. But the existing processes are also being improved. We want modern, attractive products. This investment is not just about new buildings or production lines, it is also about making EVVA fit for the future. And in this overall context they are all factors that make up the future. These include buzz­words such as digitisation, logistics, speed and quality.

You are Operations Manager. What are your areas of responsibility?
The Operations Division is responsible for coordinating production including locations, materials management and purchasing and warehousing, as well as order and quality management. In total, about 300 people are employed in my area in Vienna, and about 400 internationally. My tasks focus on designing and stabilising processes and implementing the strategy of uncompromising customer orientation and sustainable greening. Further aspects are digitisation and automation as well as the optimisation of internal coordination.