New – Newer – Neuenrade
24.03.2005
Wheel production in German quality has a new name – Neuenrade. AEZ Produktion opened its new plant on March 11 in the Märkisches Sauerland region. The new site is the largest building project in the history of the ALCAR Group.

AEZ called, any many came: politicians, journalists, ALCAR staff and honorary guests. On the afternoon of March 11th, 150 guests crowded into the large warehouse of AEZ Produktion’s new plant. And it was impressive how the simple wheel warehouse had been decorated and transformed into a festival hall. Company banners hung from the walls decorated in ALCAR’s characteristic red; the latest wheel designs gleamed in their holders and in the middle of its all stood an enormous projection screen.

At 1:35 on the dot, Adrian Rilklin (ALCAR HOLDING) made his grand entrance on stage. “The experience and the qualifications of our staff,” he said, “was our chief reason for investing more than € 13 million in expanding this plant.” In particular, Rilklin singled out the experience of the Schmidt brothers with whom AEZ has been working as partners since 2002. And the mayor of Neuenrade, Klaus Peter, also expressed his gratitude for the newly created jobs and the trust ALCAR has placed in his town, calling it “an especially happy situation” all around.

Afterwards the ALCAR Group’s new image film was shown for the first time. Many were awed and amazed at the sight of the powerful images. The guests were even more astounded when they got a glimpse behind the scenes of the 14,000 sq m plant first-hand. It was none less than AEZ’s production head, Gustav Sponer, who demonstrated how the robots work, not to mention his particular pride in the new finishing machine. “We plan to manufacture 1.2 million wheels annually, 500,000 more than in 2004,” he announced.

Things got a bit more relaxed that evening. Managing directors and staff from all of ALCAR’s countries came together at the Wilhelmshöhe restaurant, located on the outskirts of Neuenrade. The special surprise guest was none other than “His Majesty, Wilhelm I” himself. The “German emperor” entertained the guests throughout the evening with his knowledge of history and his humours anecdotes. For some the evening ended up lasting longer then planned; due to snowfall, the taxis were not able to take the last guests home until very late at night.

But the next day no tired faces were to be seen anywhere in the new AEZ plant. “It’s music to my ears,” is how an ALCAR staff member described the hammering, buzzing and ringing of the machines. With its new site, AEZ now has a plant with some of Europe’s most advanced technology for wheel production. At the same time Neuenrade exemplifies the goals of each of us in the ALCAR Group: to bring our high-quality products to market better, even more reliably and with even more conviction. The new plant is reason enough to make the entire ALCAR family proud. “You really are somebody important,” commented an impressed British journalist on hand for the event.

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