LIQUI MOLY expands production

LIQUI MOLY is building a new production hall in Ulm to create space for additional dispensing systems. The lubricant specialist intends to lay the foundations for further growth and expand the filling capacities for additives. In March, production reached the highest output in the company’s 65-year history. The new plants are scheduled to start operation in March 2023.

The new building will be erected between the main building used for administration and the hall in which additive production and the warehouse for raw materials and aerosol cans are located. Work began in the first quarter. A tower crane in the ring road points to the construction site from afar. A little more than a year of construction is planned. The result: 500 square meters of additional production space on two floors. On the second floor, 162 sqm for offices.

The investment totals around 5 million euro. “The new building is an absolute must if we want to maintain our growth course,” says Managing Director Günter Hiermaier. “In this way, we will modernize and expand our filling capacities. And with the additional space gained, we can optimize processes.” In the 1970s, LIQUI MOLY moved its headquarters from Ulm’s city center to the northern district of Lehr. There was plenty of space there. Decades have passed and what was once ample has become a lack of room. Günter Hiermaier: “We added mezzanine floors in the production hall. This made it possible to control the increasing filling volume. All of the optimization potential has now been exhausted. Soon, the end of the proverbial road will be reached.” A maximum of some 18 million small packing units can currently be filled at continuous capacity utilization, and with the new building, more than 23 million units. In March, production employees filled almost 1.8 million additive cans – more than ever before in a single month since the company was founded in 1957. “This is almost 14 percent more than in March 2021. These figures alone speak in favor of a new building,” says the Managing Director. The plans envisage space for an additional plant and thus additional capacity.

Two dispensing systems for small packing units with a volume of 100 ml to 1000 ml will be set up on the ground floor of the 13-metre-high building. Another system of this type is also intended for the first floor. One palletizer is planned for each floor. Five offices will be created on the third floor for the production and workroom employees. Two older machines will be retired, so that two systems will remain in the existing hall. Together with the new acquisitions, a total of five plants will be operated. The modern filling plants and the new filtration equipment will further reduce the already low emissions. “This is very important to us, as our factory borders on a residential area,” emphasizes the Managing Director.

No jobs will fall victim to modernization. “The number remains unchanged. But the company’s history shows that the number of employees will grow overall. They are the heart and the key success factor of the company,” says Günter Hiermaier.