The wolf has moved
Wolfensberger Production is consolidating its facilities in Birmensdorf while also optimizing its production process.
AG (Wolfensberger) has moved its registered office from Zurich to its
The company relocated from its previous second site to Birmensdorf ZH. The 1902
This is the first time that the company has left the city of Limmat and
moves to the agglomeration. Once before, in 1917, the company, too
which also includes a publishing house and a lithographic studio with an art salon,
moved within Zurich. Then as now, the move was also
artistically accompanied - in 1917 by a poster with the title "The Wolf
moves" and this time through a beautiful, by the artist Robert
Honegger designed pop-up card that, when opened, reveals a model
of the new building to the surface.
Great machine rochade
Wolfensberger has now built a new print shop in Birmensdorf.
The existing building was extensively expanded, modernized and
also optimized with regard to environmentally compatible production. Thus
the new company headquarters meets the Minergie standard, among other things, the
the waste heat from the presses is used to generate heat. The move
of all means of production has not yet been fully realized.
will be completed by June 2006 at the old Zurich site.
"Wolfsberg" still printed the large-format posters. These
remaining machine will not be drawn, but sold; in
Birmensdorf will then take over from July 2006 a yet to be installed,
large-format MAN Roland R905 sheetfed offset press with coating unit the
Production.
When asked about the reasons for the move, business manager
Benni Wolfensberger: "We expect the consolidation of the
locations a simplification of the processes. Middle of next year
In addition, after the machine has been moved, there is no need to transport the
printing plates between Birmensdorf and Zurich for good."
The new building is primarily intended to benefit customers. These are offered
in addition to parking spaces in front of the house and the proven services a
optimized production process. From a new appearance as well as a
expansion of its marketing activities, the company hopes to also
to be able to win new customers in the region around Birmensdorf. "Since the
move, the departments are closer together, which allows us to improve our
Optimize processes and simplify our quality monitoring
were able to. For the latter, we continue to rely on the industry-standard
recognized quality assurance system InstrumentFlight from System
Brunner, which provides an evaluation of the print quality by stars
characterizes," Wolfensberger explains. As further reasons for the move
He states that Birmensdorf will be affected by the bypass from mid-2006.
Urdorf/Birmensdorf and from 2008 through the Uetliberg tunnel
would soon be optimally located in terms of transport. This improves
The already good connections to Zurich are also significantly improved.
Niches as a concept for success
One of the company's specialties is the finishing of
greeting cards and wrapping papers. For this purpose, the print shop has in
area of bronzing has a lot of know-how and appropriate machinery:
"There is only one other print shop in French-speaking Switzerland that
bronzed - and not very many worldwide," Wolfensberger knows. This
This fact then also explains the company's export successes. Thus
greeting cards decorated with gold bronzing and
wrapping paper mainly to the USA, the United Kingdom, Australia
and Japan. "Our know-how in this area, our
quality standards as well as very good, long-standing international
Customer relationships thus secure around 50 percent of our sales."
explains Wolfensberger, who mainly handles poster printing and the
production of art books as well as the printing of cardboard boxes and
the printing of maps to the other important mainstays of the
Birmensdorf company counts.
Location of the lithographic printing plant still open for the time being
That of Thomi Wolfensberger, the brother of Benni Wolfensberger,
lithographic studio will remain at Wolfsberg until further notice.
Benni Wolfensberger explains that in Birmensdorf space reserves
the decision as to whether and when the lithographic studio would also be
transferred to the new location is still open. One is examining
currently the further use of the building on Zurich's Bederstrasse.
The fact that the venerable lithographic studio, which in artistic circles is a popular
meeting place, will not be abandoned, and this is something that
Wolfensberger, on the other hand, has no doubt. The new Birmensdorf
Company domicile is to become a center of attraction - just like the former
Wolfsberg.
The "Wolf" has thus arrived in modern times without breaking with its tradition.
Jürgen Franck
