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Multi-million euro test centre boosts Liebherr’s ‘innovative power’

‘This site strengthens the innovative power of our company, exactly as my grandfather and founder of Liebherr, Hans Liebherr, would have wished.’ So said third generation Jan Liebherr during the official opening of the company’s new development and test centre in Kirchdorf an der Iller, south Germany.

It is here that Liebherr manufactures and assembles, among other equipment, its scrap material handlers that are supplied to recyclers all over the globe.   

EUR €30 million was invested in the facility which consists of a huge testing hall and a demonstration site, covering in total close to 130 000 m2.

High and mighty

The key component is the 4 500 m2 test hall which stands 19 metres tall. The hall features a 13-metre high door that accommodates fully assembled machines, including the biggest material handlers often used at big scrap yards and in ports.

In the future, all prototypes from Liebherr-Hydraulikbagger GmbH’s portfolio will be built up and optimised in the test hall. The area also boasts a noise measurement site and a 1.2 km testing track with slopes and poor-quality roads for practical tests and live demonstrations.

Future-proof

‘With the new development and demonstration centre we are making Liebherr fit for the future,’ says the company. ‘It enables us to optimise development and test operations.’

The official opening was carried out by Jan Liebherr, manipulating a scrap shear from the cabin of an XXL excavator to cut a red band of iron.

Some 1 400 invited guests and customers from all over the world had travelled to Kirchdorf to get a first glimpse into the heart of the development centre.

One of a kind

Liebherr’s technical manager Haudraulikbagger Werner Seifried praised the Liebherr family’s commitment. ‘This test centre is unique in Europe,’ he said, adding that the project was realised in ‘a record time’ of less than ten months.

Rainer Langenbacher, the mayor of Kirchdorf an der Iller, paid tribute to the entrepreneurial courage of the Liebherr family, which he said had contributed to the positive development of the community. ‘A farmers’ village with 700 souls has developed into a modern industrial location,’ he said.

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