When the Machine came to Man

40 YEARS AT HENGERSBERG In June 1963, Edscha opened its first branch plant. For the people of the Bavarian Forest this meant jobs – for the Edscha Group the birth of the Com- pany’s most important out of today’s 24 plants around the globe.

THEN AND NOW

Thank Heaven for forty years of Edscha Hengersberg. Church dignitaries such as the Abbot of the

nearby Niederalteich Monastery and the Bishop of Passau were among the first to give the start-up their blessing on June 7, 1963: “May the plant bear abundant fruit for all who work here.” Fritz Eberle, then mayor of Hengersberg, also rejoiced at the

prospect of a rich harvest on the day “the Machine came to Man”. And the machine has indeed brought wealth to the region.

employs approx. 1,200 people on a factory site of 47,000 m2. During the last business year, plant revenues came to about € 225 million, equivalent to almost a quarter of the Group’s entire sales – and a no less important factory in the region’s economy today than in the six- ties. By the time the plant celebrated its silver jubilee in 1988, it was already – according to Franz Josef Strauss, then prime minister of Bavaria – “one of the most successful industrial developments in the Bavarian Forest”.

These days Hengersberg is the headquarters for the Driver Controls and Convertible Roof Systems division. Hinge system production capacity is also significant.

LONG TIME COMING

It was almost a century before the descendants of company founder Eduard Schar- wächter dared open a plant so far from their roots in Bergisch Land. The reasons lay somewhat closer to home: a lack of space and

manpower prevented the Company from expanding in Rem- scheid, while the border region in the East offered plenty of both. As a result, the fifties had seen many thousands of people migrate to the industrial regions. Even the 25 jobs (later 70) initially offered in hinge production (3,600 m2 of operating area) meant a considerable boost to the region.

Four decades and severalexpansions later, the plant now
LEAPS AND BOUNDS

Since 1986, the plant owes much of its success to the addition of a new business division: Convertible Roof Systems. At the request of BMW, Edscha – as a specialist in moveable connections – assumed responsibility for the production of the roof linkage for the first Series 3 convertible. These days, Hengersberg produces some 65,000 soft and hard tops a year for four different car models – an impressive figure and yet only half the division’s entire production. Four more plants have since been set up around the world; a fifth is currently being built in Mexico.

At the Hengersberg division headquarters,

85 design engineers provide for the future: a well filled order book means the Hengersberg convertible roof production is booked out for years to come. No doubt many there glance upwards through the open roof in gratitude.

Rafael Zelek

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