New Schottel rudder plant
Schottel, the German manufacturer of marine propulsion systems, has opened a new Rudderpropeller factory near its company headquarters in Dörth, in order to strengthen its leading market position.
The factory represents a total investment of €45 million over a construction period of around two years. It includes four production shops (up to 270m long and 18m high) and a three-storey building for administration, social and technical purposes – amounting to 23,000 m² of space.
Professor Dr Ing Gerhard Jensen, CEO of the Schottel Group, said: “We refer to the new factory as the most efficient Rudderpropeller factory in the world because efficiency has been achieved in every conceivable area here. It begins with the connection to the existing traffic system and continues on to well thought-out logistics.”
The new site accommodates a total of 290 jobs in production and administration, including 20 apprentice positions. It represents an increase in capacity for Schottel of around 30%.
Schottel has also invested heavily in a new machinery park. Thanks to the mechanical production facility, the company is able to efficiently produce all of the essential parts of the Rudderpropeller in-house.
The largest multi-axis turning/milling centre for the machining of structural support tubes (with a diameter of up to 5m) and gear box housings (with a machining height of 5m) offers a payload of 120 tonnes. The cranes for lifting range from 10 to 50 tonnes can also be retrofitted for up to 100 tonnes.
Besides the plant in Dörth, Schottel has further manufacturing facilities in Wismar (Germany) and Suzhou (China).
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