KARL STORZ announces forward-looking investment program for Tuttlingen and Neuhausen production sites

Tuttlingen, July 24, 2019: Medical technology manufacturer KARL STORZ is equipping itself for the future with a comprehensive investment program. Karl-Christian Storz, sole managing director of the family business since January 2019, provides information on the key points of the project. The family-owned company is investing 30 million euros in the expansion of the Tuttlingen site for the manufacture of endoscopes, instruments, and devices. The core of the project is to strengthen the production site at the headquarters in Tuttlingen and Neuhausen ob Eck (Tuttlingen district) by expanding the production area as well as the spatial consolidation of existing production departments and product development departments, which until now have been decentralized in various buildings in Tuttlingen and Neuhausen.

Over the course of the project estimated to last 24 months, KARL STORZ will first bring together all of the production and product development departments in the field of mechanics to the building at Dr.-Karl-Storz-Straße 11 and the adjacent building on Lessingstraße and modernize the existing building for this change. The manufacturing of endoscopes and the rigid endoscope development department will soon be housed together at Neuhausen ob Eck. For this purpose, three construction phases are planned around the KARL STORZ logistics center (Take Off 83 building). First, two stories will be added to the logistics center. Additionally, a new building for the endoscope manufacturing and rigid endoscope development department as well as another new building for CNC manufacturing will be built. These new buildings and expansion in Neuhausen and the modernization of the building at Dr.-Karl-Storz-Straße 11 will result in the integration of departments at Kaiserstraße and Elsa-Brandström-Weg into the central buildings in Tuttlingen and Neuhausen.

The aim is thus not only to create larger and more modern production areas for further growth, but also to reduce in-house transport times and promote greater dialog between the development and production arms of the company. Settling product development and production for rigid endoscope at the Neuhausen site should also improve the integration of production and logistics as all of the company’s logistics processes have been at Neuhausen since 2013.

“With this major investment, we are combining the healthy growth at our headquarters and home base with the future-proof optimization of our processes. The goal is to bring the value creation in product development and production closer together and to promote cross-divisional collaboration so that all processes, from product introduction to continuous product improvement, as well as fast delivery to our customers, are optimally coordinated. With this important investment decision for the production site in Tuttlingen and Neuhausen, we are investing in the performance of our employees and hereby underscore our commitment to the headquarters in the Tuttlingen region. We are building on the local manufacturing tradition which reinforces our reputation as a quality supplier and will lead us into the future,” explains Karl-Christian Storz, Managing Director. “In order to succeed in today’s and tomorrow’s market conditions, we are investing selectively in our efficiency and flexibility. In addition, we are constantly working to provide our employees with state-of-the-art workplaces. We are investing in the motivation and trust of our employees by constantly adjusting and improving our working conditions.”

With 3,000 employees in Tuttlingen, 1,200 of whom work in production and product development, KARL STORZ is one of the largest employers in the Tuttlingen district. After completing these measures, there will be 800 production and product development employees in Tuttlingen and 400 in Neuhausen. All other employees will remain in the existing buildings at Dr.-Karl-Storz-Straße 34 and the logistics center in Neuhausen.