Pepperl+Fuchs has held an official opening ceremony to unveil its new production site in Trutnov, Czech Republic, to the wider public for the first time. The celebrations marked the formal conclusion of this building project, which commenced in 2019 to allow Pepperl+Fuchs to further strengthen its position as a market-leading producer and innovator of industrial sensors. The new building complex replaces the existing production facilities that Pepperl+Fuchs acquired from Siemens in 2010. Covering 8200 square meters in total, the site employs 230 people. Alongside the state-of-the-art production facilities and attached warehouse, the site boasts spaces for industrial engineering, research and development, and quality management.
Production based on Industry 4.0 principles
The plant now supplies all other European locations of the Pepperl+Fuchs Group with assembled printed circuit boards and—in addition to the inductive sensors already manufactured in Trutnov—will also be used in the future for the production of complex photoelectric sensors. The new production systems are based on the principles of Industry 4.0 and mainly use solutions from the company's own portfolio. These include LiDAR sensors, diffuse mode sensors, and camera-based track guidance systems for an auto-guided transport system. An RFID system has been installed to automatically track Kanban goods workflows, which simplifies and accelerates production processes.
"Planning and building the new facility in the midst of a pandemic was an ambitious project that required flexibility and high levels of commitment from Pepperl+Fuchs and the partners that were involved in this venture. Our production facilities in Trutnov will play an important role as part of the Pepperl+Fuchs Group and will allow us to meet increasing customer demand in ever-changing markets. The site concept offers space for further growth, both within the building and across the large site itself," says Tobias Blöcher, Managing Director of Pepperl+Fuchs Manufacturing s.r.o.
