German Chancellor, Dr. Angela Merkel, and Tarek Al-Wazir, Minister of Economics, Energy, Transportation, and Regional Development of the state of Hesse, have opened the Viessmann Innovation Centre, the Viessmann Group’s new € 50 million technological research and development centre in Allendorf in Germany.
Viessmann is a leading international manufacturer of heating, industrial, and refrigeration systems. CEO Prof. Dr. Martin Viessmann, said: “In the future, the Viessmann Innovation Centre will be our breeding ground for innovations related to energy transition and digitalisation. It is where we are bringing together development activities across the entire product engineering process – from initial concept to the start of production.”
The Viessmann Innovation Centre is an interdisciplinary research and development centre that will employ 100 people and up to a further 60 additional personnel in various teams, to develop prototypes and turn them into marketable products, and carry out admission and long-term tests. The new facility’s creation represents the biggest single investment in the family business’s hundred-year history.
During the inauguration ceremony, Dr Angela Merkel told Professor Viessmann: “Today, you are demonstrating the great importance of research and development within your company.” Looking back at a century of Viessmann history, and the company’s internationalisation in the past 25 years, the German Chancellor added: “What began in a small workshop is now a globally active group of companies; the company’s development over the past 100 years is something to admire.”
Hessian Economics Minister, Tarek Al-Wazir, pointed out Viessmann’s role as a highly innovative company and an active partner in ‘energy transition’. He said: “Viessmann products lead the way in energy efficiency in the heating sector. What is more, the company is committed to energy efficiency in its production processes, and is actively involved as a cooperation partner with several universities.”
“One key concern when we were designing the Viessmann Innovation Centre was to incorporate all departments that could contribute to the development of successful and innovative products,” explained Dr Klaus-Peter Kegel, CEO of Viessmann’s Heating Systems Division. “These included research and development, product management, quality management, production engineering, and series production,”
Founded in 1917, Viessmann is headquartered in Allendorf in Germany, has an annual turnover of € 2.26 billion, and employs around 12,000 staff. With 23 production companies in 12 countries, distribution companies and representative offices in 74 countries, and 120 sales offices worldwide, 54 percent of the Group’s turnover is generated internationally.
The company offers oil and gas-fired boilers, solar thermal and photovoltaics, combined heat and power modules (CHP), ground, air, and water-sourced heat pumps, biomass boilers, and fuel cell heating systems.
