- ROOFING CEREMONY OF THE NEW PORSCHE´S PAINT SHOP IN LEIPZIG
- EXPANSION OF THE PORSCHE PLANT IN SAXONY WITH IN-HOUSE BODY ASSEMBLY AND PAINT SHOP
06/11/2012, Stuttgart / Leipzig.- The next milestone has been achieved: Nearly a year after the foundation stone ceremony, the Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG is celebrating the roofing ceremony for the paint shop at the Leipzig plant today. One of the most modern paint shop facilities in the world, covering 60,000 square metres is being built here, which is also part of the largest construction project in the history of Porsche: The expansion of the Saxony plant into a fully-fledged factory, with on-site body assembly and paint shop for the production of the new model Macan.
«A number of aspects of this construction are very impressive. A paint shop is being built on a production area of more than eight football fields in record time, which will set new standards in environmental technology. This represents an important investment for the site, a major economic stimulus for the region, and a key enabler for the company’s growth strategy», as Wolfgang Leimgruber, Member of the Executive Board Production at Porsche AG, comments on the occasion of the ceremony in Leipzig, which entailed the ceremonial attachment of the last steel beam of the roof structure today.
Approximately 113,000 tons of concrete were used in constructing the shell of the new paint shop, which will be about 360 meters long, 72 meters wide, and 30 meters high – a structure that blends seamlessly and harmoniously into the architecture of the Leipzig factory. «Construction works are absolutely on schedule», as Wolfgang Leimgruber continues to explain: «All efforts are geared at the production launch of the new Macan on time, and at the best quality up to Porsche standards as of the end of 2013.» In the coming weeks, the facade of the paint shop is set to be completed. Work on the interior and the painting equipment will commence immediately thereafter, with operations set to commence in the summer of 2013. The Macan cars manufactured in the Leipzig body assembly are then going to be subjected to a multi-stage paint process on several floors – all in accordance with state-of-the-art sustainability measures. For example, a newly developed separation system for paint overspray is going to be installed. Thanks to the dry deposition on stone dust base, and a downstream, chemical exhaust air cleaning system, solvent emissions from the painting process are reduced to a minimum. The use of waste heat from the electricity generated by a wood chip power plant is also unique. This biomass power plant supplies the paint shop with up to 80 percent of the heat requirements from natural resources.
«In our expansion of the Leipzig plant, Porsche is not just setting a clear signal in respect of the environment, but also a clear signal to the people of the region. The plant expansion will create 1,000 new jobs. The paint shop alone will generate jobs for more than 400 new employees», as Siegfried Bülow, Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche Leipzig GmbH comments in his address to the more than 800 guests present.
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Text and photographs by: Porsche.
