FROM NORDERSTEDT TO THE WORLD:
OPENING OF NEW CONDAIR SITE MARKS MILESTONE IN THE COMPANY’S HISTORYIt may have taken less than a year to construct the new Swiss Condair Group facility in Norderstedt close to Hamburg, but the strategic plans for the building will certainly resonate for years to come: the ceremonial opening of the new building, which took place on 9 June in the presence of the minister for economic affairs, Mr. Reinhard Meyer of the Schleswig-Holstein region, marks the conclusion of a radical restructuring of the company. The new building will bring together all the company’s logistics, assembly and sales activities under one roof. By creating this central hub in northern Germany, the global leader in humidification and evaporative cooling will be able to serve its customers quickly and more efficiently wherever they are in the world, and will also be best placed to further promote the internationalisation of the company.
The Hamburg metropolitan region: the perfect hub for logistics
Just a few minutes away from the airport, with short connections by road to the nearest motorways and close to the harbour, the new facility is in the perfect position to expand the Swiss company’s international leadership by air, water or land – in fact, these connections were decisive when settling on the city located just north of the German metropolis. Oliver Zimmermann, CEO at Condair, explains: ‘Norderstedt offered us the perfect logistical conditions. A hub like the metropolitan area of Hamburg is extremely significant when it comes to the success of companies like ours.’ The excellent opportunities offered by the new location are essential for the far-reaching restructuring of the company to become a complete success. ‘Such a considerable change to the company structure like the one we are working on now really needs to be done with a specific strategic perspective in mind,’ continues Zimmermann. ‘We have now moved to be closer to our customers’ markets, which means we can offer shorter delivery channels – meaning quicker delivery times – and will be much more flexible and cost-effective thanks to the consolidation of our four different European production centres. This is what we are working toward.’
Norderstedt facility: a reflection of Condair’s vision
‘Productivity, sustainability and health through air and water’ is Condair’s vision, and nowhere can this be seen more clearly than at the Norderstedt facility: the latest technologies for indoor environments provide a constant stream of fresh air – which gets rid of irritating draughts – and exceed all current environmental standards. The temperature remains constant between 22ºC and 26ºC, with the relative humidity staying at a healthy 40% to 60%. The advanced technology adjusts numerous individual factors making up the complex physical atmosphere to create a perfect, comfortable and healthy indoor environment. Condair employees enjoy innovative and healthy environments which comply with the very highest of standards.
Visitors and customers are also more than welcome to enjoy the complex nature and importance of indoor environments over the building’s 600 square metres: in areas on the theme of humidification and evaporative cooling, holographs demonstrate the functional principles of modern ventilation technologies and explain best case scenarios for indoor environments (e.g. the internal climate control on the Gorch Fock German Navy tall ship as it crosses the oceans), and a light wall provides real-time environmental data on the conditions inside the building, as well as weather data for all of Condair’s 17 international offices.Just short of passive house standard thanks to high tech
Before Condair had even chosen to relocate to Norderstedt, it decided during preliminary planning sessions that the new facilities were to be constructed as sustainably as possible. The German Energy Saving Ordinance (EnEV) 2014 and a maximum heat demand of just ≤35 kWh/(m²·a) were selected as the minimum standards for the building. Once the construction was complete, it became clear that the building actually almost achieves passive house standard at full capacity: an outstanding result for company offices with warehouses and production facilities. With the mix of geothermal energy and photovoltaics, efficient and energy-saving ventilation technologies and sophisticated building automation and control systems (BACS), the Condair building has managed to perform almost 50% better than the German Energy Saving Ordinance (EnEV) 2014.
An extra 5,000 square metres up our sleeve for the future
The new Condair Logistics and Production site for EMEA and new sales office for Central Europe located in Norderstedt will also house the Condair Systems GmbH (formerly Draabe Industrietechnik GmbH) sales organisation focused on industrial and commercial end customers within the same 8,500-square-metre building. A site already set up for growth: at the moment, a total area of around 5,000 square metres lies ready for mid-term expansion. In fact, the current building has even been designed with this growth in mind: new units can be added onto the existing halls with very little construction work. Condair’s CEO Zimmermann says: ‘With our product portfolio, level of innovation and current sales structures, we have every reason to believe that we will not only maintain our position at the top, but will even expand it further. Norderstedt is set to play a substantial role in that.’
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The cut of the blue ribbon:
(f.l.r.): Marc-Mario Bertermann, Entwicklungsgesellschaft Norderstedt mbH/ Oliver Zimmermann, CEO of Condair/ Silvan G.-R. Meier, Owner of Condair/ Reinhard Meyer, Minister for Economic Affairs of the Region of Schleswig-Holstein/ Johannes Bettsteller, CEO of Vollack.
The new Condair Location in Norderstedt is offically open.
(f.l.r.) Dr. Bernd Bösche, WTSH- Wirtschaftsförderung und Technologietransfer Schleswig-Holstein GmbH/ Marc-Mario Bertermann, Entwicklungsgesellschaft Norderstedt mbH/ Oliver Zimmermann, CEO of Condair/ Reinhard Meyer, Minister for Economic Affairs of the Region of Schleswig-Holstein.
Interview of the Owner and the Executive Board of Condair.
(f.l.r.) Friedhelm Lütz, Moderation/ Oliver Zimmermann, CEO of Condair/ Silvan G.-R. Meier, Owner of Condair/ Roland Kleeb, CFO of Condair/ Werner Adler, CMO of Condair/ Dr. Axel Brand, COO of Condair.