PRESS RELEASE
Ground-Breaking Ceremony for the New Central Test Bay for Heavy Duty Drive Belts in Höxter
· Optibelt invests c. 4 million euros in a “test bay serving tomorrow's needs”
· Testing of drive belts inside the 2,200 sqm building is to start in summer 2017
Höxter, 14 November 2016. Arntz Optibelt Group is building a new central test bay at its principal place of business in Höxter, Germany. The ground-breaking ceremony for the new facility of the world's leading vendor of heavy duty drive belts took place today. The facility will create state-of-the-art technological conditions for testing new developments and for running quality checks on products already in series production. At the same time, the company intends to keep stepping up its R&D activities and to reduce the time to production of new developments. The new test bay will extend over 2,200 square metres, and thus provide twice as much space as the previous facility.
Reinhold Mühlbeyer, CEO, had this to say: “By investing in this test bay that will serve tomorrow's needs, Arntz Optibelt Group takes a forward-looking approach. The modular test bench set-up as well as its sensors, motors and network links meet the highest technical standards and let us adapt our tests even closer to specific client applications.”
In-Depth Testing
Any belt tested by the system has to withstand exacerbated performance, temperature and geometric stress conditions for several hundred operating hours. Noise characteristics and efficiency are also checked. As applications become ever more specialised, for example in combines, lawnmowers, washing machines, printing units and automobiles, product testing requires increasing customisation.
Efficient air and water temperature control will ensure that the new facility provides standardised testing conditions. The facility's windowless concrete shell, which also houses the mechanical and electrical services on the roof top, screens the neighbourhood from machine noise.
A bright and customer-friendly two-storey office building will be integrated into the facility. In addition to the 15 office workplaces, the new building will include a bistro and two conference rooms and will be complemented by a number of parking spots.
About Optibelt
The Arntz Optibelt Group counts among the leading manufacturers of high-performance drive belts worldwide. Optibelt products are used in mechanical engineering, the automotive industry, agricultural machinery, household appliances, to name but a few sectors. The family-run business with its well over 2,000 employees worldwide celebrated its 140-year anniversary in 2012. From its domicile in Höxter, Germany, the Arntz Optibelt Group controls eight manufacturing plants in Europe and Asia. At the same time, Optibelt operates a global network of sales organisations. The company maintains proprietary sales and logistics sites in Europe, the Americas, as well as in Southeast Asia and New Zealand. www.optibelt.com
Press contact
Ummen Communications GmbH
Antje Heber
Tel.: +49 (0)30 46006-145
E-mail:
1