GERMANY: Bitzer has marked the 25th anniversary of its factory in Leipzig with the sale of its 2.5 millionth product.   

The factory in Schkeuditz, near Leipzig, was acquired in 1991 from the former East German refrigeration compressor manufacturer MAB and is the base for the production of Bitzer’s Ecoline series of reciprocating compressors.

Its 2.5 millionth product, an EcoStar condensing unit was purchased by one of Bitzer’s longest-standing customers, Oy Combi Cool Ab of Finland.

Oy Combi Cool’s md Klaus Nyström and product manager Markus Antikainen travelled from Helsinki to Schkeuditz, to accept the EcoStar condensing unit from Bitzer’s LHVE series together with the corresponding certificate.

When it was founded Bitzer Kühlmaschinenbau Schkeuditz employed 210 staff, of which 180 came from MAB. Since that time, 25 years ago, Bitzer has extended the Schkeuditz site, increased production seven fold and increased the number of staff to about 750. The production area has been significantly scaled up from about 2,500m²  in 1991 to more than 19,000m²  today. Overall, Bitzer has invested more than €100m in the site and is still continuing to extend it.