The further expansion of the LAUDA DR. R. WOBSER GMBH & CO. KG company premises at the Lauda-Königshofen site was launched with an official groundbreaking ceremony. 180 new parking spaces are being built for the rapidly growing team of LAUDA employees. The parking spaces are being built directly on the company premises and will be canopied with a modern photovoltaic system to maximize use of the site. In addition to the LAUDA management and Works Council Chairman Elmar Mohr, the mayor of the city of Lauda-Königshofen, Dr. Lukas Braun, and representatives of property developer Faul + Bethäuser and Sparkasse Tauberfranken also attended the groundbreaking ceremony on February 16. President, CEO and advisory board member Dr. Gerhard Wobser also took part in the groundbreaking ceremony held to mark the start of the construction work.

The new parking lot is not only intended to provide parking for the growing number of employees that have joined the company over the past year: President & CEO, Dr. Gunther Wobser, explained in his speech "It's not just about providing parking for cars, it's about sustainability, the careful use of resources, and our responsibility as a company." LAUDA has set itself and its employees the task of making an important contribution to environmental protection as a company. In addition to the installation of a roof-mounted photovoltaic system and charging infrastructure for electric cars that can also be used by the public, the family business was one of the first companies in Germany to make the company car fleet accessible to the public with a car sharing solution. Covering the parking lot with a photovoltaic system is another logical step in helping the company achieve its ambitious goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2030. Furthermore, the family business will also soon have its own bus stop.

The construction project will create another 90 parking spaces, doubling the capacity of the previous site in the west to a total of 180. 100 of these parking spaces will be covered. Scheduled to start up by September 2023, the photovoltaic system installed on the canopies above the parking spaces will generate 350 kWp of power, thereby covering around 30 percent of LAUDA's electricity requirements. The global market leader is investing around another 1.2 million euro in this expansion project.

The mayor of Lauda-Königshofen, Dr. Lukas Braun, paid tribute to the growth strategy of the global market leader: "The structural expansion of the Lauda-Königshofen site is a clear demonstration of the company's commitment to the region." According to Dr. Lukas Braun, the construction of the parking lot can also be seen as a sign of further growth. Plans to expand the site further north toward Distelhausen are already in the pipeline.

LAUDA DR. R. WOBSER GMBH & CO. KG closed 2022 with record turnover. With a consolidated group turnover of around EUR 121 million, the global market leader exceeded the original target of EUR 120 million by EUR 1 million, and for the first time in it's history, was able to announce a turnover of more than EUR 100 million. In addition, the LAUDA Group also closed the month of December with a record turnover of around EUR 15.56 million. This record is the result of the comprehensive Drive250 strategy project, which LAUDA has been pushing forward for a year now. The family-owned company has set itself ambitious growth targets with a new structure, future-oriented investments and process optimizations: By 2026, the number of LAUDA employees is set to almost double internationally, from 530 at present to over 1,000. Turnover is expected to increase from the current level of around 120 million euro to 250 million euro in the five-year period under consideration. The 2022 record clearly shows that the strategy of the global market leader is working and that everything is going according to plan in terms of content. This is particularly remarkable given the geopolitical and socio-political backdrop of the previous year.

"We have made amazing progress since the implementation of our Drive250 strategy project," explains President & CEO of LAUDA, Dr. Gunther Wobser. "As a result, we hired almost 60 new employees in 2022." In spite of a year full of unpredictability, the company managed to stay on course. "2022 was extraordinary in every respect and was extremely demanding for everyone at LAUDA. It was characterized by large volumes of incoming orders, material shortages and bottlenecks." Nevertheless, LAUDA was still able to pursue its ambitious goals. The success of the company is also down to the performance of its employees: "I would like to thank everyone who contributed to this outstanding result and I am sure that we will achieve our goals together again this year," concludes Dr. Gunther Wobser.

The groundbreaking strategy project Drive250 by LAUDA DR. R. WOBSER GMBH CO. KG based in Baden-Württemberg continues to move forward at full speed. LAUDA's Drive250 project is setting the course for the future, which is also proving important for the town of Burgwedel in the Hanover region, where the global market leader for precision temperature equipment has a branch office. LAUDA used the "Drive250 Stopover" get-together format to bring together employees from both locations to celebrate what has been achieved so far, share information about the current progress of the processes, and examine common objectives. For this reason, President & CEO, Dr. Gunther Wobser, traveled to Burgwedel with his colleague, CFO, Dr. Mario Englert. The mayor of Burgwedel, Ms. Ortrud Wendt, was the guest of honor: "My goal is to maintain a close relationship with the companies based here at the industrial location of Burgwedel, and provide a local connection to the city administration. This is why I was particularly happy to accept the invitation from the LAUDA management to visit the company in Grossburgwedel. In discussions with President & CEO, Dr. Gunther Wobser, and CFO, Dr. Mario Englert, we exchanged views on ways of promoting the mobility revolution and the use of renewable energy, among other things. It's a good thing that LAUDA is here and I hope that the company will remain at this location for many years to come."

The former laboratory specialist GFL officially became part of the LAUDA Group at the beginning of 2019, and LAUDA Burgwedel was fully integrated in its parent company in 2022. The family-owned company is setting itself ambitious growth targets with a new structure, future-oriented investments and process optimizations. In this regard, new employees will be recruited and a large number of jobs created both at the headquarters in Lauda-Königshofen and Burgwedel, as well as other international locations – the number of LAUDA employees worldwide is planned to almost double by 2026, from 580 at present to over 1,000. Turnover is expected to increase from the current level of around 120 million euro to 250 million euro in the five-year period under consideration. To this end, the company is investing an amount well into the double figure millions for expansion of the production and logistics, but also for administration, IT and digitalization. The intensification of the business development in the area of future technologies such as hydrogen will also play an important role.

At the event, the management also drew a positive conclusion of the Drive250 strategy project, which was launched at LAUDA in the first quarter of 2022. In his speech, Dr. Gunther Wobser dubbed the past year as a "year of growing together". In addition to mutual visits between Burgwedel and Lauda-Königshofen, working groups were defined to systematically address the individual areas, processes and challenges. Here, the main focus was placed on mutual understanding and support, generating profits together, and improving productivity and performance. Consequently, sales were stabilized, the introduction of the LAUDA ERP system started, and the hardware and software equipment at location was upgraded. The hurdles for NRTL approval of the LAUDA Versafreeze deep-freezers have also been overcome, making it possible to start sales in the USA. Turnover was 10 percent higher than in the previous year, while the overall profit at the Burgwedel site was 80,000 euro. "Drive250 was a huge success last year, which we all worked on together, and I'm very happy to be able to start off the new year in this way," said Dr. Gunther Wobser.