Ground breaking
Factory of the Future
With an official groundbreaking ceremony, SMW-Autoblok has started construction work on its new "SMW Factory Airport" in Meckenbeuren. The clamping technology specialist is investing 25 million euros in its new production facility, with which it plans to further expand its business activities. It is scheduled to start operations in the second half of 2026.
SMW-Autoblok is building its factory of the future on a total site area of around 11,000 square meters at the company headquarters in Meckenbeuren in southern Germany. With the 25 million euro investment, the company wants to send a positive signal in every respect, as Managing Director Eckhard Maurer stated in his welcoming speech: "With this new digital factory, we are not only focusing on growth, but also on sustainability and technology and Germany as a location."
A place of innovation and sustainability
With the new production facility, SMW-Autoblok and SMW-electronics will further expand their business activities. The factory will play a central role in the development and production of innovative solutions for automation and clamping technology. These will range from gripping systems for robots to inductive coupling systems to mechatronic and hybrid clamping devices for machine tools.
Digitalized processes and artificial intelligence will support the 60 employees who will be working here in the future. The SMW Factory Airport will, according to Maurer, be "a place of progress and innovation." The rooms will be designed to promote creative, productive and efficient work. "People are the focus," said Maurer. The employees should be able to "realize their best ideas."
The building will also be pioneering in terms of sustainability. The building will be operated completely CO2-neutrally. Heating and cooling systems based on geothermal energy and photovoltaics will be used.
The SMW Factory Airport
SMW-Autoblok's future production facility takes its name from its location. It is being built in the "Meckenbeuren-Flughafen" industrial estate in the immediate vicinity of Friedrichshafen Airport. The factory is scheduled to be completed in March 2026. Operations will begin in the second half of 2026.