Page 44 - Best of 2016 English

arms that work untiringly and with centimeter precision li the parts on to holders that carry the doors and side walls to the furnace for a powder coating.
It is the moment when we ask about di erences in refrigerator quality. ey o en lie in the details and are not always visible. Christoph Roth reaches into a box and shows us a handful of silvery pegs. “At Liebherr, the door handles are attached with high quality metric screws.” And omas Fieseler takes an unimposing piece of insulation from the shelf. It is a vacuum panel. “Nothing insulates better than a vacuum. But manufacturing such a panel is complex and correspondingly expensive,” he says.
Most such components are stacked on the 15 “assembly islands”. In each, ve employees assem- ble refrigerators, but always only 20 to 60 of any particular model. en there is a change, which happens once or twice each shi . e variety of models becomes apparent at the latest in the nal feet of production. No two consecutive appliances leaving the assembly islands are the same, and around 1,500 di erent refrigerator models head to the nal inspection. e idea there is to stay cool. Experienced employees prudently open compart- ments and drawers, inspect the lighting and sur- faces, and check the doors’ special opening mecha- nism. If they give their okay, it is time for the nal
Zero tolerance: Industrial mechanic Fiesel checks the accuracy of the side panel’s t
accolade: A robot sprays a gas mixture (plasma) onto the refrigerator door, which brie y increases its surface tension before a second robot applies the foil with the Liebherr signature. One small step in manufacturing, but one giant investment for Liebherr. But the brand name, which is ultimately a seal of quality, should stick to the product in
the best possible way. Also for the appearance, because the refrigerator is increasingly becoming a design piece: 60% of the units produced today are oor-mounted units. Objects to show o , with a status symbol nature, particularly when the door boasts the “Liebherr” lettering.
Liebherr facts and gures
Founded: 1949 (Hans Liebherr Maschinenfabrik), appliances: 1954 42,000 employees (2015)
9.2 BIL. € annual turnover/sales)
Locations for refrigerating and freezing equipment production: Annual production in Ochsenhausen (Upper Swabia, Germany): 828,000 devices
Annual production in Radinovo near Plovdiv (Bulgaria): 868,000 devices Annual production in Lienz (Austria): 440,000 devices
Annual production in Kluang (Malaysia): 103,000 devices
Internet: home.liebherr.com
44 WHITE GOODS
Photos: Gunnar Garms