The new German site will allow Graco to expand its presence and activities in the European e-mobility market.
Graco has recently invested in a new facility at the Schumag industrial estate in Aachen
(Germany) in order to increase its presence within the German and European e-mobility market. The company has also already expanded its development sites in Shanghai (China) and Minneapolis (USA).
“Infrastructure, location, local cooperation opportunities and, last but not least, RWTH Aachen University with its extensive research work in the field of e-mobility, convinced us that Aachen is the perfect location,” stated Jochen Hennes, the Head of the Customer and Innovation Center at Graco.
The company, headquartered in Minneapolis, manufactures and distributes systems to move, measure and apply a wide range of fluid and powder materials for several industrial fields, such as protective coating, adhesive bonding and sealant application. The new location was specifically chosen for the opportunities presented by the technology region and the great number of RWTH University research projects in the field of e-mobility, in which Graco will invest more resources in the near future.
“Even very early on in the project, we had extremely helpful and valuable exchanges thanks to the direct connections to the RWTH University institutes. That played a major role in choosing Aachen as a site. The global location right in the middle between the USA and Asia means we can have direct exchanges with our colleagues throughout the day. Because the German automotive industry is also active all over the world, particularly in the field of e-mobility, these interfaces are a major advantage and, ultimately, also benefit the local industry,” explained Hennes. “We believe that the team in Aachen will grow quickly from the 11 colleagues currently at the site. We already started our first projects in the weeks leading up to the official opening. Demand for our applications is already extremely high and, thanks to our international setup, we are already able to offer our customers solutions.”
Graco’s engineers in Aachen will work on adapting the already existing products of the company to the requirements and needs of the customers, as well as supporting new applications – particularly for battery assembly processes – and developing the necessary products. Preliminary tests can be carried out at the Customer and Innovation Center of the new facility, that covers an area of 850m2.