Sonneberg-Spechtsbrunn. Spraying, metallisation, sputtering, pad printing, gluing, digital printing, assembly, labelling, screen printing and embossing – these are all high-quality decorative options for flacon glass and jars, which the HEINZ-GLAS Group now offers as a comprehensive range at its Spechtsbrunn site. Following a two-year planning and conversion phase for the expansion, the decoration centre in the Fichtig industrial park was officially inaugurated at the beginning of June. HEINZ-GLAS invested around four million euros in the expansion of its decoration plant, which currently employs 280 people.
The expansion created 1,200 square metres of production space for pad printing, 800 square metres for special finishing and 600 square metres for digital printing, technical rooms and offices. "We also installed new ventilation and heating technology, a new shrinkage system, a new oven and a new transformer station, among other things. New social rooms were also built in the spring of this year. A total of 60 external companies were involved in this extensive project. I would like to thank my team, who mastered this challenge wonderfully while continuing with their day-to-day business," said Norbert Fehn, Global Head of Operations Decoration, at the opening ceremony. HEINZ-GLAS invested in resource-saving room ventilation and heating with heat recovery, as well as a heat pump, which will result in annual savings of approximately 230 tonnes of CO2. A further saving of approximately 45 tonnes of CO2 per year results from a new electric oven, which replaces the old gas oven. From a logistical point of view, transport routes between Kleintettau and Spechtsbrunn can be saved thanks to faster throughput times for projects involving multiple decoration processes. Synergy effects result from a new, central shrink-wrapping system for all decoration departments at the site.
CEO and owner Carletta Heinz also thanked all employees and external companies involved for their commitment and praised the successful completion of the project. Afterwards, guests had the opportunity to visit both the HEINZ-GLAS decoration centre and the neighbouring company Röser Sonneberg GmbH, with which HEINZ-GLAS works closely.
History of the Spechtsbrunn site (HEINZ Veredelungs GmbH):
- 1998: Start of spraying at the HEINZ-GLAS main plant in Kleintettau
- 2006: Establishment of a site in Spechtsbrunn; relocation of spraying to Spechtsbrunn, start with three spraying lines and start of metallisation
- Since 2007: Continuous expansion of spraying to five lines
- 2012: Installation of the second metallisation line
- 2018: Commissioning of a sputtering plant for small series
- 2023-2025: Expansion and extension of the site to become a decoration centre
