Factory expansion 2016

Once the investment is completed, the Budapest factory will be the biggest and most prominent unit of Knorr-Bremse’s Rail Vehicle Systems division

Knorr-Bremse Budapest invests EUR 17 million into expanding operations

Knorr-Bremse AG’s braking systems factory in Budapest will be expanded by the fall as Knorr-Bremse Rail Systems Budapest increases the production volumes of a number of its world-class products in Hungary. Through the investment the number of employees at the company will reach over 1,400.

An investment of EUR 17 million at Knorr-Bremse Rail Systems Budapest will enable the factory to have, by 2017, 500 engineers and nearly 1,000 employees to work on the development and production of braking systems for a range of rail vehicles from trams running in the streets of Budapest to high-speed trains in Japan.

The Munich-based company will invest into expanding its Budapest factory, inaugurated in 2010, by 11,000 square meters to 46,000 square meters. The expanded facility will host operations for the development and production of complete brake control systems and air supply product families. The investment will create nearly 300 new jobs, expanding the number of employees at the company to over 1,500. Furthermore, the investment will bring additional benefits as hundreds of additional new jobs will be created through the company’s stable local supplier network.

Over the past few months hundreds of new hires joined the company, partly because of the new investment, and partly because of the ongoing development projects and existing pro-duction technologies enabling the employees of the Budapest site to take part in global high-tech development projects. Once the investment is completed, the Budapest factory will be the biggest and most prominent unit of Knorr-Bremse’s Rail Vehicle Systems division. Knorr-Bremse Rail Systems Budapest increases the production volumes of a number of its world-class products in Hungary.

“Our continuously expanding product portfolio and technology improvements over the past few years strongly contributed to the growth of the company and it is an important motiva-tion for our employees as well. Being able to take part in the full process, from the devel-opment to implementation, is instrumental to how our employees, blue-collar workers and engineers alike, work. Many of our employees have been working with us for over a decade and they provide a solid foundation to our reliable operations, just like our newly hired col-leagues who will play an essential part in our successful growth”, András Sávos, co-managing director of the company emphasized.

The company exports its products to 17 countries around the world, from Brasil and the United States to Switzerland and China. The share of Hungarian suppliers is over 60 per-cent: the company partners with more than 600 Hungarian businesses that meet Knorr-Bremse’s strict quality criteria, including the standards of the Deutsche Bahn. The company puts key focus on the continuous development of supplier relationships, and provides sup-port in the development of quality, logistics and collaboration competencies. The company seeks to contact suppliers as early as in the product development phase and work with them to develop the complete production system. Following the expansion that will be completed by the fall, the local supplier base of Knorr-Bremse Rail Systems Budapest is expected to increase by 15–20 percent, and the investment can also expand the order books of existing partners, contributing thereby to the creation of hundreds of additional new jobs.

“Product development has been present at our factory since its foundation in 1995, with Hungarian engineers being the backbone of it. The global success of Knorr-Bremse is un-derpinned by the work of highly qualified creative Hungarian technicians, skilled workers and engineers who have received a vote of confidence from the Munich-based parent com-pany’s leadership from the very beginning”, Tivadar Tavaszi, co-managing director of the company highlighted.

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Once the investment is completed, the Budapest factory will be the biggest and most prominent unit of Knorr-Bremse’s Rail Vehicle Systems division