A new plant and logistics center is being built in Pinsdorf in Upper Austria (Gmunden district). At the location, the company wants to create an additional pillar with the manufacture of heat pumps. The groundbreaking should take place in May 2022, completion is planned for mid-2023. At the same time, Windhager is also investing heavily at its headquarters in Seekirchen (Flachgau).
In recent years, the family company has specialized in the development and manufacture of heating systems for wood, pellets and wood chips. With the production of heat pumps, the company’s management now wants to expand its expertise in renewable energies. “Heat pumps are one of the fastest growing areas in the industry,” said Windhager managing director Stefan Gubi on Thursday. In a first step, 40 employees are to work in the new plant; in the long term, the employment of up to 100 employees is planned.
Investments in the double-digit million range
Windhager also wants to invest in boiler production in Seekirchen. This should be brought up to date with the latest technology by the end of the year. In addition to a fully automated boiler welding system, a new fiber / laser cutting system is also intended to triple the production capacity. Both in Seekirchen and in Pinsdorf a “substantial double-digit million amount” is being invested, said Gubi – without wanting to give specific figures. In the new plant, however, they want to use all modern technologies for the heating and energy supply of the building in order to do justice to the topic of “Green Technology”.
The company expects further strong growth in almost all of its markets in the coming years. In the Corona crisis, people benefited from the fact that people were investing more in their own homes. In addition, there were subsidies and incentives on the part of politics to get out of oil heating. “That helped a lot during the difficult Corona period,” reported Gubi.
Windhager was founded in Seekirchen in 1921 and today employs around 550 people with two foreign branches and an international partner network. Production is currently carried out exclusively at the company’s headquarters in Salzburg. The export share is around 70 percent. According to the company, sales in 2020 were 100 million euros, the financial statements for 2021 are still open. However, Windhager is assuming double-digit percentage growth for the past financial year.
Source: Nachrichten
