Scheuchl invests after a delay
17.04.2012
Plant engineering company halted an expansion project in 2008 because of the crisis and has now taken it up again this year
At the internationally active R. Scheuchl GmbH from Dorfbach near Ortenburg, the question is no longer whether the company can increase sales, but whether it can cope with the growth. That there could currently be bottlenecks in handling orders was reported by the junior and senior bosses, Richard (74) and Ulf (47) Scheuchl, as well as the third managing partner, Dr. Udo Dinglreiter. The trio expects “considerable growth” for this year and next. Growth that can only be achieved with new skilled workers. “We are currently looking for ten new employees,” announced Ulf Scheuchl (Dipl.-Ing.). He added that five million euros will be invested this year in an extension building.
“R. Scheuchl - Apparatebau” is written in blue letters on the façade of the company building in Ortenburg. The company logo should really be replaced, or at least extended. Because it has long since ceased to be just apparatus construction: the company is active in the fields of process, measurement and drying technology, environmental protection, planning and design, as well as plant and mechanical engineering. The focal points in plant engineering are exhaust air and wastewater treatment, heat recovery and air dehumidification. In mechanical engineering it is mostly about desanding and decoring concepts in foundry technology, cooling tunnels and systems for deburring castings.
The field of innovation should not be underestimated, the three company bosses emphasised. The company aspires to be the technology leader in some business areas. For plant engineering, test series are being run with rinsing liquids for paint shops. Specifically, it concerns a new process, regarded as unique, for cleaning contaminated rinsing water after the painting of a car. The lines of the robot painters are cleaned.
Almost five percent of annual sales are invested in research and development. Cooperation takes place, among others, with the University of Regensburg. For its own development purposes, Scheuchl is allowed to make use of the facilities of the “An-Institut” – an organisationally and legally independent research centre affiliated with the university. In addition to Scheuchl, the Ortenburg-based SKH GmbH is behind it, a partner for ecological odour removal and reduction. In Dorfbach, Scheuchl employs 112 staff – including 14 apprentices. Six employees work at the branch in Ingelheim near Mainz.
This year, the management assumes that sales will rise to 15 million euros. In 2011, sales amounted to 13 million euros. According to the company’s own figures, the export quota is 30 percent. Scheuchl acts as a service provider for the automotive industry. However, the special machine manufacturer has always made sure not to become too dependent on this sector. For example, it also has “a foot in the door” in the food industry. This year, investment is being made in the Ortenburg company headquarters with a plant extension. A storage and production hall as well as an office complex are being built on 3,200 square metres – the extension is to be completed in October. The excavators had already rolled in once for the five-million-euro investment project: back in 2008, when the expansion was actually planned. Part of the excavation had already been carried out back then. However, because of the emerging economic crisis at the time, the construction site was scrapped. In January of this year, the decision was then made to continue the project and finally realise it.
The company history:
Richard Scheuchl founded the company in 1962 in Munich after studying electrical engineering – in 1976 it moved to Gröbenzell. In 1980, a sales branch was opened in Ingelheim. Scheuchl began by manufacturing control systems in switch cabinets. In 1983 he relocated production and in 1992 the entire company to Ortenburg, his father’s birthplace. In the same year, Ulf Scheuchl joined the company. To this day, the plant engineering company has grown continuously and has won renowned customers such as Airbus, Audi, BMW, Daimler, Toyota and Bayer.
