Sandler AG celebrated the CEO Dr Christian Heinrich Sandler’s 60th birthday and two new investments at the Schwarzenbach location this week.

More than 460 guests from politics, the economy and society had accepted the nonwoven manufacturer’s invitation to the Freiheitshalle gala evening including a formidable acrobatics show, musical interludes, and a first look at Sandler AG’s new production line.

Backbone of the economy

Among those attended the celebratory event were Alfred Gaffal, President of the Association of the Bavarian Industry, Peter Schwartze, President of the Association of the German Textile and Apparel Industry, Heribert Trunk, President of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce for Upper Franconia Bayreuth, Bernd Hering, Hof District Administrator, Alexander Eberl, Mayor of Schwarzenbach, and Holger Knaack, Director Rotary International.

Dr Sandler, who has been actively involved in a variety of voluntary capacities for a long time, was acknowledged for his services by Alexander Eberl, Mayor of Schwarzenbach, who surprised Sandler with the honorary citizenship, which will be formally bestowed on the entrepreneur in the weeks to come.

At the event Dr Sandler also presented a donation of 20,000 EUR to the city of Schwarzenbach for an art object to be set up in front of the ‘Erika Fuchs house’ - a museum for comic and language arts that is currently being built in Schwarzenbach. Sandler also donated 20,000 EUR to the Schwarzenbach retirement home ‘Haus Saalepark’.

Production line ‘VS 32’

Since April, a new production line, the ‘VS 32’, has been taking its place in ‘plant 4’ at the Schwarzenbach location. The guests in the Freiheitshalle received a first impression of the assembly work. An investment of 15 million EUR, the ‘VS 32’ expands the capacities of Sandler AG for the production of bulky roll goods and panels for diverse applications. Thermal bonding, needle-punching or the combination of both processes will be possible on the new line.

Lightweight, easy-to-handle materials, particularly insulation materials that efficiently prevent heat loss through roof and walls in the home or create a quiet working atmosphere in the office, will be manufactured on the site: 3 to 200 mm thick; weighing 40 to 6,000 g/m², all of them with a large inner surface for excellent sound and heat insulation properties.

Expansion of the service centre

To continue ensuring the flexible availability of the nonwovens, Sandler AG also invested 2.5 million EUR in the expansion of the technical service centre.

The building will become the central warehouse for the spare parts kept on hand for the production lines. The new part of the building alone offers room for about 20,000 machine parts. After a construction time of about four months, the service centre is scheduled to be completed in August.

Conclusion of a series of investments

The technical service centre and the production line ‘VS 32’ are part of a series of investments, in the course of which Sandler AG expanded its Schwarzenbach location to become one of the largest locations for the fibre-based production of nonwovens.

“We managed to put a 10-year investment plan into practice in half that time and, in doing so, invested a total of more than 60 million EUR“, explained Christian Heinrich Sandler. “And once the current investment is completed, we will have created 115 new jobs during the past 5 years.”

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