Ground-breaking ceremony for Plasser & Theurer's new factory

On 11 September 2024, Plasser & Theurer celebrated the ground-breaking ceremony for its new assembly and commissioning factory at the Pummererstrasse site in the Linz industrial area. With estimated construction costs of more than 60 million EUR, it is the largest single investment in Austria in the company's more than 70-year history. It is also significant for Upper Austria as an industrial location.

In future, both final assembly and commissioning of track construction and maintenance machines will be carried out in the new workshop, which covers an area of around 12,000 m². There are plans for 15 final assembly stations for machines, each with an area of 8.5 x 30 m. Three tracks, each 91 m long, and one 56 m track are planned for commissioning. The workshop is due to be completed in July 2026, go into operation in early 2027, and provide 180 jobs, 80 of which will be newly created.

By building the factory, the company is creating modern infrastructure and sufficient space to build and commission its machines – especially E³ high-tech machines with hybrid drive technology – in the best possible way. The planned combination of a photovoltaic system and green roof on the workshop also has positive effects on energy efficiency and the climate. The green roof has a temperature-equalizing effect through thermal insulation, thus ensuring less energy consumption for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning while also improving air quality.

The new building will also bring production capacities that are currently separated closer together. The new hall will be close to Mechanical Assembly. Additionally, integrating Technical Commissioning into the new hall significantly increases the efficiency of production processes. This shortens transport routes – both for our machines and for our employees.

Of more than 60 million EUR all will come from the owner family's private funds. Plasser & Theurer has imposed a cost reduction programme on itself and is currently carrying out a transformation process lasting several years. For this reason, the owner family does not wish to burden the company, but rather contribute to its future viability.

“Despite the extremely difficult economic situation in Upper Austria, which is currently affecting many companies, including us, we are investing in our future right now and creating new jobs, making a commitment to our employees, our market, and our customers,” says CEO Johannes Max-Theurer. However, the landscape for the industrial location must be improved quickly. “There's a lot to do here. Austria has come under severe pressure as a business location in recent years: comparatively high energy costs, rising non-wage labour costs, a shortage of skilled workers, and a massive increase in bureaucracy. Competition on the global markets, in particular, has recently become increasingly tough for strongly export-orientated companies like us. We feel it enormously, and this is where sensible policy with good judgement is required.”