TridonicAtco expands production capacity at Dornbirn plant

Dornbirn, Austria – TridonicAtco, part of the Zumtobel Group and a manufacturer of control gear, lighting systems and LED modules, is expanding production capacity for electronic ballasts at its Färbergasse facility in Dornbirn. By the spring of 2012, additional SMT equipment will be installed in the automated mounting area. There will also be new storage systems for SMT components, which will cut space requirements by over 60 % and material supply times by as much as 50 %. In the manual mounting/soldering area the six existing soldering systems will be replaced by three new high performance soldering stations. And in the assembly/testing segment a new fully automated housing system will be up and running by the end of 2011. In all, these measures represent a volume of investment of EUR 3.5 million. Built to a new design, the first of the three soldering stations recently came on stream. When expansion is complete, annual production capacity will be up by around 25 % from 15 million to approximately 20 million electronic ballasts.

“We are stepping up capacity in response to rising market demand for innovative and energy-efficient electronic ballasts. At the same time, by installing the latest production technology we are making a clear commitment to the future of our operations in Dornbirn,” said TridonicAtco COO Rüdiger Kofahl, commenting on the investments at the company’s home base. “The new SMT and soldering machines are state of the art. And the new equipment will also make for lower energy consumption and more flexible production,” added Plant Manager Markus Kronenwett.

The introduction of the new equipment will also mean extensive changes to the existing production layout, much of which will be swivelled through 90 degrees to optimise material flows. The individual workstations will also be adapted to the new production procedures and modernised accordingly. The changeover is to take place gradually and without interrupting production.

TridonicAtco is the only manufacturer to produce the vast majority of its electronic ballasts at facilities in Europe. With its highly automated manufacturing operations, TridonicAtco thus safeguards European jobs in the production sector and at the same time offers customers a regionally optimised logistics service in line with its “ecolution” sustainability strategy. The company’s other production plants for electronic lighting components are located in Ennenda, Switzerland and in Spennymoor, UK. TridonicAtco also operates a production facility in Shenzhen, China.