On 18 June 2018 the foundation stone was laid for the new GRASS central warehouse in Hohenems, Austria. The hub for its European production sites will cost 45 million Euro and is the biggest investment of the Würth Group in the Company’s history.

Present at the laying of the foundation stone for the new central warehouse were the owners; representatives from all production sites; prominent members from Government; and the media. Costing 45 million Euros, this is the biggest investment the Company of the Würth Group has made in its 71-year history. GRASS was founded in 1974 in Höchst. Other production sites of the Group are Salzburg (Austria), Reinheim (Germany) with the affiliated factory in Krumlov (Czech Republic) and Kernersville (USA). Götzis, a second facility in Vorarlberg, was added through the merger with the Mepla-Alfit Group in 2007. The new facility will be the third building in the area of Hohenems/Vorarlberg. Taking no chances, GRASS set up a trail facility in a disused spinning mill in nearby Feldkirch where the processes have been optimised.

The central warehouse will sit on a property measuring 43,000 square metres. It offers a total of 30,000 pallet positions on 22 levels. The facility will be ready for use at the end of 2019, initially with 150 employees. The factories in Hohenems will then deliver finished products which have gone through the customisation, packaging and an order picking process based on the individual customers’ requests. Thomas Zenker, Spokesman of the GRASS Management Board, describes the motivation for the biggest investment in the Company’s history. “Optimising the supply chain management is a core challenge for being successful in the long term. Our order books are full and the demand of the market is excellent. However, there were opportunities which weren’t taken advantage of due to the strong growth in previous years. With the central warehouse we’re resolving one of the most important bottlenecks and creating the prerequisites for profitable and sustainable development.”

A globally successful group of companies; a fresh brand with tradition and an extraordinary diversity of perspectives is GRASS in a nutshell. With sales revenues of 378 million euros in the 2017 financial year, some 1,900 employees at 18 locations and more than 200 distributors in 60 countries including Australia, GRASS ranks among the world’s leading specialists in movement systems. As development partner and systems supplier to the furniture industry, GRASS has been creating products which inspire its customers for 70 years. GRASS slide and drawer systems, hinge and flap systems are brand-name products that move the furniture of prestigious brands.