More capacity in Poprad strengthens the STIEBEL ELTRON Group

STIEBEL ELTRON Slovakia has opened a new production hall at its plant in Poprad. Since September, sheet metal parts for the production of heat pumps and hot water tanks have been manufactured on an area of 2,300 m². "The previous capacity was no longer sufficient for the enormous growth," explains Michael Görlich, Managing Director of STIEBEL ELTRON Slovakia.

"Our new production hall meets the most modern requirements," says Jan Girgaš, Head of Technology at the Slovakian company and project manager for the new hall. "The hall is designed for three-shift operation and is ideally prepared for the production expansion."

Location for a new generation of hot water tanks

"An additional welding line in the new production hall should create the capacity to manufacture the new generation of wall-mounted hot water cylinders in Poprad starting in 2025," says Michael Görlich. With the new generation, the wall-mounted hot water cylinders produced in Holzminden will also be relocated to Poprad - which will almost double the current number of hot water cylinders in Poprad. The capacities in Holzminden will then be used for the production of floor-standing storage tanks. "A valuable focusing of production," Görlich is convinced. "If not everybody does a little bit of everything, instead of combining product groups at locations, capacities can be bundled and the necessary high unit numbers for profitable automation can be achieved." For example, wall-mounted cylinders, hot-water heat pumps and integral ventilation units are primarily manufactured in Poprad.

Increasing production volume

Future expansion of the production site is already planned. "We have purchased an additional plot of land in Poprad," reports Peter Štrbian, commercial director of STIEBEL ELTRON Slovakia. This provides a capacity of further 21,450 m² to expand the production at the site. "Planning is already in progress so that additional halls for the production of integral ventilation units can be put into operation in 2026," reports Projectmanager Jan Girgaš.

It is clear that this will also require a growth in the number of employees. While 379 people were employed in Poprad in 2022, the number is now 530. "In three years, there will be 710 employees working at this location," Michael Görlich predicts. So far, recruiting is going according to plan. "We hire up to 20 employees per month." The opening of the new hall is playing into STIEBEL ELTRON's hands. The huge national media coverage of the opening ensured that the telephone in the personnel department did not stop ringing during the days that followed - and this despite the fact that the local unemployment rate is very low. "STIEBEL ELTRON was able to successfully present itself as an innovative and growing company as well as an attractive employer," says Peter Štrbian.