Although the cause of the fire on December 27th is still unknown, a preliminary assessment can be made. The older section of the three divisions of the Niedernhall plant is destroyed. Processes such as drilling, multi-layering, plating, welding masking, and screen printing, as well as part of the laboratory and sales offices, were located in the building. Dismantling will begin as soon as the inspectors have completed their work on the building.
The so-called "Steinhaus" (administration building) and the older part of the factory, where the sales and administration departments were located, as well as the inner layer manufacturing and part of the electroplating, were not directly damaged and will be fully operational as soon as the soot and smoke removal is complete. The cleanup is already underway, as these operations began on New Year's Day.
The new building, which opened in 2009, also escaped the fire. Just a few days after the fire, individual processes were gradually restarted.
“Fire doors prevented the fire in these buildings. We are pleased that the measures worked effectively and prevented the fire from spreading,” said Daniel Klein, Managing Director of Würth Elektronik CBT. “We would like to take this opportunity to thank the emergency services and the Red Cross once again. They did an incredible job!”
Affected employees find “new” jobs.
As previously reported, other divisions of the Würth Elektronik Group, such as Würth Elektronik eiSos in Waldenburg and Würth Elektronik ICS (WE ICS) in Niedernhall-Waldzimmern, operate independently and were not affected by the incident. The geographical proximity of the companies is a significant advantage. The affiliated company, Würth Elektronik ICS, was able to create space for 70 workstations in its newly constructed building. In a short period of time, employees from the Niedernhall sales and engineering departments were provided with desks, chairs, computers, and telephones, as well as the necessary IT infrastructure.
The relocation of production capacity to the Rot am See and Schopfheim plants was planned and carried out shortly after the fire. Würth Elektronik employees from both plants worked during their vacations, thus providing extra production capacity. Furthermore, shifts have been extended, consequently increasing production capacity. An unplanned investment in new machinery is being made in Schopfheim to ensure that the required capacity can be met. At the beginning of the week, the first employees from Niedernhall started working in Rot am See and Schopfheim.
Our most important asset: the customer.
“In these challenging times, our focus is on the customer more than ever. Keeping them informed and working together to find solutions is our highest priority,” said Denis Giba, Managing Director of Würth Elektronik CBT. “Customers need printed circuit boards. Together, we are working on solutions for how we can supply them. We are aware that many jobs will be outsourced to other manufacturers in the coming weeks. For a salesperson, there is nothing worse than being unable to deliver materials. We must overcome this shortage. That is why we are working very closely to see if it is possible to shift production to one of our other plants in Germany or Asia. We are exploring all options to find the best solution.”
A special section on the Würth Elektronik website provides customers with information about the work being done in Niedernhall. Order status can also be checked via a form.
The two directors, Giba and Klein, emphasize this point: “Now we are looking ahead and working quickly to get back up and running.” The company has ambitious goals for the plant's reconstruction. The administration and sales departments will return to the Steinhaus in March. Following a tendering process with production planning companies, the plans for rebuilding the destroyed areas should be ready by the end of January. The new building is not expected to be constructed directly on the fire-affected site so that construction can begin as soon as possible, saving considerable time. “I want to see the excavators moving earth in March,” said Daniel Klein at the employee meeting on Wednesday.
