Precision landing for the Erfi spaceship
Precision landing for the Erfi spaceship
On June 30, 2017, erfi celebrated the topping-out ceremony for its new building in Freudenstadt-Wittlensweiler. The Schwarzwälder Bote wrote: “The sun was shining, and when the large topping-out crown floated up to the roof of the steel structure on the crane hook, the numerous guests applauded. Owner Andreas Fischer seemed relaxed: a year and a half ago, after the fire disaster on January 8, 2016, things had “looked different”. The fire, which caused damage amounting to eleven million euros, was an existential threat to the company.
The disaster had “welded many in the company closer together”. Fischer: “Now we can say that we have done everything right and … are living the topic of Industry 4.0 more consciously than almost any other company.” He is proud of today’s “milestone”. The new customer center, known as the “spaceship” because of its seemingly floating construction, will be extended on the first floor to include a new production and storage hall. The industrial building covers an area of 2200 square meters, Erfi invested 4.5 million euros. …
District Administrator Mr. Rückert praised Erfi as a “top modern company”. Something “very special” is being created here and the new building is “magnificent”. The company embodies the district’s motto “high-tech and the scent of pine” like no other. According to Mayor Julian Osswald, Erfi has undergone “incredible development”, both technologically and structurally.
The appearance of the new building is unparalleled. “The spaceship should actually still be moving, that would be the crowning glory,” says Osswald. … According to Erfi, the new building should be ready in the third quarter. Practically every meter of the plot has been used.”
Below is the speech of the Managing Director, Andreas Fischer:
Dear guests,
I would like to welcome you all to our topping-out ceremony and I am as happy as a little child that we have managed to celebrate this event with you all. After all, things looked very different 1 ½ years ago after the devastating company fire!
The catastrophic fire on January 8, 2016 destroyed our entire machine hall. The associated burden of saving the company was enormous for many employees and the management. The damage, amounting to 11 million euros, was existential. However, the disaster also brought many of us closer together. We can now say that we have done everything right and, with our new production facilities, we are living Industry 4.0 more consciously than almost any other company.
As the owner of the company, I am proud that we have reached the milestone of the topping-out ceremony after this difficult phase. With all of you by my side, I feel reassured that the decision to realize the building application submitted in December 2015 was the right one. …
With this new building, we are creating a new production and logistics hall on the first floor and a unique customer center on the upper floor that will do justice to our new products. … This new investment has to do with the expansion of our production in the appliance sector. The new erfi products require more production space and so the previous showroom is being converted into an electronics production facility.
The investment in a new customer center was therefore a consequence of our company’s new product policy. At the time, we had no idea that we would also be building this hall underneath.
I would especially like to start by welcoming my parents. We are very grateful that after a difficult start to the year in terms of health, it is possible to celebrate this party with you. My father encouraged me to stick to the decision to build the new building even after the fire. As the founder of the company, we are honoring him by always visibly linking this new building with his person. This will take place during the inauguration ceremony. Of course, I would also like to welcome my parents-in-law. I am delighted that you are following the construction of the new building with such interest.
But now I would especially like to welcome our craftsmen, whom we are honoring with this celebration. On behalf of the entire Fischer family and the erfi company, we would like to express our special thanks to all of you for your excellent work to date.
The shell construction company Theurer maintains an exemplary construction site here and manages this difficult task with the necessary professionalism and calm. The steel construction company Bühler is responsible for the many steel girders, which, as we can see here, are even filled with concrete to guarantee a fireproof hall. We are equally grateful to all the other craftsmen.
We would like to extend a warm welcome to District Administrator Rückert and Lord Mayor Osswald and thank them for their continued cooperation on this project. I would also like to extend a warm welcome to the Sparkasse and Mr. Schmid as partners of erfi.
I salute our workforce, without whom such an investment would not be possible. Today should be seen as a symbol of our efficiency. The new building will bring us many organizational advantages.
As is customary with our architect Mr. Schmelzle, the building application that has already been submitted is usually extended by another hall in the course of very creative meetings. This happened in 2008 and 2009 and now Mr. Schmelzle has done it again! He is slowly becoming a repeat offender!
In the first step, this hall in which we are sitting was not actually planned at all and the former, very elaborately constructed parking lot from 2009 was to be retained. “Only” the upper floor, i.e. our new customer center, was to be built and float above the parking lot! Hence the name spaceship!
Due to the fire incident (January 2016), we have since planned a completely new production plan in line with Industry 4.0 and needed the existing Logistics 1 hall for fully automated production. … In short, Mr. Schmelzle suggested that we simply needed a “piece of roof” and a “wall around the corner” to build another hall under the showroom. That wouldn’t cost much either!
We would then also close the last “corner” roof and then we would already have a new hall for incoming goods and other functions! So we decided to follow his advice! Where else would we have celebrated our topping-out ceremony today? Mr. Schmelzle was very far-sighted in his planning! …
Without creativity and a wealth of ideas, something like this cannot be built. I would therefore like to extend a special welcome to our team of architects, including Mr. Schmelzle, Mr. Gärtner, Mr. Hänßler and the ladies responsible for the interior design, Ms. Stark and Ms. Ostmeier. With their experience, this team has mastered the tasks to date very well and professionally.
The support and personal commitment during the very costly repair work as a result of the fire damage was unparalleled and deserves our utmost respect. The connection with the Schmelzle architects’ office has become an important strategic anchor as a result of the special events.
In connection with the professional support during the fire disaster, I would like to welcome our expert Dr. Nothaft. … without the right decision at the right moment, we would all not be here and we might not have realized the new building so quickly. Thank you once again for that.
Let’s move on to the statics of the new building! The structural engineers and structural engineers were able to show off their full repertoire in this new building project! I mean that in the way I said it! We would like to thank Mr. Münzner from the structural engineering office Boll und Partner in Stuttgart and the structural engineer Mr. Genthner for the obviously correct dimensioning of all the previous components.
Last but not least, the proof is in! The rocket has been ignited! The basic body is standing and keeps its promises!
You can’t develop products without measuring. This also applies to construction. We would like to thank Nothacker for always measuring correctly. So far the building has fitted on the plot! Spot on!
The planning engineering office Liepelt is responsible for heating, ventilation and sanitation. We would like to thank Mr. Liepelt for his excellent support during the construction phases, which were not always easy. We would also like to thank him for his support during the extensive renovation work after the fire.
We would also like to thank electrical planner Schmid for the electrical planning. It was a complex undertaking to connect a completely new machine park to an existing distribution system! Sudden expansions in the area of transformer stations, substations and the respective requirements did require some preparatory work.
With the new building, there is of course still a lot of work to be done by the electricians and the Eisele company, but they did an exemplary job of fighting off the fire damage! The new alarm system and in particular the new smoke detection system with fire department connection is certainly a reassurance for us all after the past incidents. However, in the end we also have to actually connect the fire department.
A company like erfi needs good legal advice on many issues. I would like to welcome the law firm Krauss Law with Dr. Krauss and Dr. Wertheimer, who often provide us with the right answers in order to maintain our market position despite innovative product development. We have to defend this every day.
I would like to extend a warm welcome to our neighbors from the immediate vicinity. Some of us have known each other for decades and some of us only know each other briefly. We thought that this was a fitting occasion to get to know each other a little better on this day and we look forward to working together in the future. Some of you, especially the Finkbeiner family, have had to put up with a lot of construction noise and no longer have the good view to the south. But I offer Gerhard the opportunity to come and enjoy the view to the south, east and west over a cup of coffee in the spaceship at any time!
… I now wish you a pleasant evening, a good appetite and a nice time together. May we continue to enjoy good luck and blessings on the construction site. We wish all the craftsmen continued success and, above all, accident-free work.
Thank you very much!
Yours, Andreas Fischer.
