BENGALURU (Metro Rail News): The HÜBNER Group is building its presence and expanding its production capacities for the mobility markets in the Asia Pacific region. It will strengthen the entire global production network with a new plant, “Namma Factory“. The inauguration Ceremony for the new plant was done on 4th April 2023. The new plant was built as a ‘Green’ factory with sustainable materials and local companies.
The managing director of the HÜBNER Group, Kai Mentel, stated that the HÜBNER Group could operate more effectively and flexibly with shortened delivery routes in the growing Indian market with the help of the new “Namma factory”. Moreover, it benefits from meeting the localization requirement for the customers with its local production at the new location and reliable serving. He further added that they would also focus on the proximity to the customers in India.
Changes in production location:
HÜBNER Interface System India Pvt. Ltd. (HIN) shifted from its previous location in Dabaspete to the new plant in Malongathihalli, Nelamangala Taluk, near Bengaluru at the end of 2022 with approximately 125 employees and is expected to have growth in the number of employees to 175 by the end of 2023.
The HÜBNER Group acquired 38,000 square metres of land for the new plant in Bengaluru, which has occupied 8,500 square metres, from which 6,500 square metres will be used for production. In contrast, the old location had only 3,000 square metres, which were several kilometres away from each other.
For the construction of the New plant, the company relied on the consulting company and contracted CICON Engineers Pvt. Ltd. (construction company) for resource-saving construction. However, the HÜBNER Group now holds a green building certificate in platinum. After the completion of the construction, the new plant building was handed over in November 2022.
HÜBNER Projects and supplies:
“Namma Factory” project launched in 2020, which will really become “our factory” in the truest sense of the word, says Uwe Sperber, site manager of HÜBNER India. In 2016, the HÜBNER Group invested over 11 million euros in the new plant previously used in Dabaspete. Earlier, the group produces a gangway system for rail vehicles in the Namma Factory, and now they have an ongoing project including the metros in the major cities of India. i.e. Delhi, Mumbai, along with the metro in the Australian city of Sydney.
In India, HÜBNER will deliver nearly 540 gangway systems to Indian Railways for the Vande Bharat Express (Train 18) by autumn 2023 and for the new RRTS regional Express trains and the metro projects in Pune, Kanpur, Agra, Bhopal, and Indore. The train manufacturer Alstom has ordered approximately 400 gangway systems from HÜBNER India. In addition, the local manufacturer BEML (Mumbai Metro) will also purchase around 800 gangway systems for the metro lines 2 and 7 in Mumbai by the year 2025.
HÜBNER is producing 135 gangway systems along with 70 gangway halves for the Bengaluru metro that are being constructed by the world’s largest manufacturer CRRC.
Mobility, Sustainable Materials and Photonics:
The HÜBNER Group is a global leader in gangway system suppliers with its business divisions Mobility rail, mobility road, material solutions for manufacturing, and phonetics and research applications. The company deals with rail vehicles and buses as well as a supplier of chassis technology, and cockpit displays solutions and door sealing and safety profiles. Also, it involves the supplier of elastomers, insulation and composite materials. In addition, the Group business unit is thriving in laser technology, featuring applications for cancer diagnostics and spectroscopy.
For example: In 2022, the HÜBNER Group generated sales of approximately €460 million, with approximately 3,500 employees with more than 30 locations worldwide along with its headquaters in kassel, Germany.
The focus of the HÜBNER Group is also on the sustainability of the building services. Having new factory features with solar panels, an in-house wastewater treatment plant, a passive ventilation system (wind and thermal buoyancy) for the production hall and rainwater harvesting in this New plant and also sealed a few of the factory premises, with large areas devoted to vegetation and an on-site pond.
“When building the ‘Namma Factory’, it was important to us from the outset to use sustainable materials and local companies and suppliers whenever it was possible and made sense,” says Bettina Kraft, HÜBNER project manager of “Namma Factory”. “It was equally important to us that with the new plant we offer our employees a workplace where they can feel comfortable thanks to optimal ventilation and plenty of daylight.”
About HÜBNER India:
The HÜBNER Interface Systems India Pvt. Ltd. was set up in 2011 in Belgaum. Latterly, in 2014 it moved its premises to Bangalore from the Dabaspet near Bangalore, which is the associated company of the HÜBNER Group. In the year 2016, the company acquired a plot of land in Nelamangala for the production of gangway systems for railway vehicles in India, Asia and Oceania, which is continued with enlarged production and testing capabilities. Moreover, as well as in 2021, the HÜBNER Group started a new building, which is 10 km located 10 km closer to Bangalore City. Under the name of the ‘Namma Factory’ project.
