Under the banner of Moving into the Future, the Sennheiser Group is currently engaged in a series of expansion and restructuring measures at its headquarters in Wedemark near Hanover, Germany, particularly in its printed circuit board (PCB) assembly facilities making the company more independent of supply chains.
The first step in the venture was to relocate an existing production line – Surface Mounted Device (SMD) Line 1 – in order to free up space. Then, two new reflow ovens were lifted through the roof of the production hall by crane allowing four assembly systems to fit in the production halls instead of the previous two.
‘The relocation of this production line system and the addition of new ones is one of several measures to strengthen our production,’ explains Chief Operating Officer and member of the Executive Management Board, Dr Andreas Fischer. ‘In the past year, we have already invested around €5m here on site. This year, it is more than €14m.
‘We have been constantly improving our supply chains and continuously expanding our own production capacities. This not only makes us future-proof for the long term, but also ensures we continue to be a reliable partner for our customers,’ adds Co-CEO Daniel Sennheiser.
The first SMD 1 production line has been in use since 2017 with another line with double the production capacity opened in 2022. With the help of eight placement heads, the SMD 1 system places components at an average speed of 25,000 pieces per hour. With the arrival of reflow ovens for the new lines, the company can both increase PCB production capacity several times over, and also keep pace with technological developments with an optimised material flow.
The logistics of such a move are challenging, and a special structure had to be built to transport the huge parts of the machine. To install the reflow ovens, the roof of the production hall had to be opened and the ovens placed in the production area from above using a crane. The fact that everything went smoothly is mainly due to the extensive preparation beforehand.
‘Since the beginning of the year, we pre-produced around 10,000 printed circuit boards to compensate for the loss of production during the move,’ says Fischer. ‘Without the dedicated commitment of the entire team, the relocation would not have been possible.’
The company’s site in Wennebostel specialises in technologies for high-precision, automated processes, and the manufacture of high-end products, including microphone capsules in its own clean room. To sharpen this focus, the group invested in a new SMD line in 2022 and a digital tool management system as well as ten additional production systems for microphone components in 2023. Other forthcoming measures include the addition of an automated SMD storage system.
The Sennheiser Group plant in Brașov, Romania, focuses on manual production as well as the final testing and packaging of products. Here, as part of its sustainable growth strategy, production space eas tripled last year. In 2023, a total of almost €13m went into the expansion of the company’s own production sites.
‘With our own strong production facilities, we are investing in our core competence – in the high quality of our products,’ Fischer says.
More: www.sennheiser.com
