"We are delighted that a large family business like Schubert is investing in this site and creating many new jobs in our town with the new building," says Jörg Steuler, Crailsheim's mayor for construction. Schubert reports that there is already movement on the construction site: where just three years ago cars were driving along a country road, there are now pallets of building materials, excavators and a large crane from the construction company Leonhard Weiss. Construction work has begun on the new building for packaging machine manufacturer Schubert. Not far from the administration building, another final assembly hall with an adjoining office building with a total area of over 12,000 square meters is now to be built. Schubert is investing around 38 million euros in this project, the largest investment in the company's history.

Room concept for agile working

"The expansion will create space for 300 employees," explains Peter Schubert, who, as assistant to his father Ralf Schubert, Managing Partner at Schubert, is involved in the technical organization as well as the construction. In collaboration with the Fessel architects' office and several specialist planners, the requirements of a modern working environment were implemented in both the assembly hall and the office wing.

Present at the start of construction: Joachim Hintermaier (Leonhard Weiss), Hans-Jürgen Schaffner (Leonhard Weiss), Reiner Weidmann (Gerhard Schubert), Jochen Fessel (architect), Wolfgang Flaig (Leonhard Weiss), Mayor Jörg Steuler (City of Crailsheim), Peter Gabriel, Ralf Schubert, Gerhard Schubert, Gerald Schubert (Gerhard Schubert ), Stefan Schmidt-Weiss (Leonhard Weiss), Marcel Kiessling, Peter Schubert (Gerhard Schubert ), Andreas Köhnlein (Leonhard Weiss), Markus Stephan (City of Crailsheim). (from left to right) © Schubert

In concrete terms, this means that the rooms are tailored to the requirements of different work areas. The company announced that agile working will be made possible by providing the best working conditions for teams that are constantly reassembling for specific projects. Above all, it is important that employees feel comfortable in the new building. "Lunch breaks can be spent just as well on the green roof terrace with a wide view over the fields as in the comfortably designed break rooms," says Ralf Schubert. On the first floor, there are visitor rooms where customers can also be received. A flexible meeting room system will also allow events for up to 140 people to be held in the new building.

Target: climate neutrality by the end of 2023

According to the press release, sustainability also played a major role in the planning of the new building. "We want to produce and manufacture_{CO2-neutrally} by the end of 2023, which is why we will equip the building with a sustainable energy concept," explains Ralf Schubert. After the geothermal energy already installed on the company premises was no longer approved due to new regulations at the site, the packaging machine manufacturer opted for heating and cooling with ice storage technology. In addition, a photovoltaic system with an output of around 400 kilowatt peak (kWp) will be installed on the roof of the new building. "The aim is for the new hall to be climate-neutral," the Managing Director continues.

A road had to make way for the new building

In order for the construction to be planned at all, the L2218 between Crailsheim and Dinkelsbühl first had to be relocated in 2019. "Due to the increased demand for our top-loading (TLM) packaging machines and the growth of our company, we already had to think about how we could expand our assembly areas," explains Ralf Schubert. The idea of relocating the road near the Schubert site to create a new construction area convinced both the town of Crailsheim and the Stuttgart Regional Council. However, it will be a while before the assembly hall and office building are put into operation in the second stage: the construction work should be completed by June 2023.