A great day for Rational Wittenheim SAS: The 50,000th iVario was delivered at the end of June. A great success and proof of the steady growth of the order volume, which in turn brings the need to expand production capacity. Rational has already begun work on this as demonstrated by the laying of the foundation stone for the new production plant. From spring 2023, the production facility, offices, training centre and company restaurant at the Wittenheim/Alsace site will be housed in a 10,000 m2 sustainable building.
“Having already expanded production in 2015, we now need to adjust capacity again to meet growing demand,” explained Peter Wiedemann, Chief Technology Officer at Rational, at the ceremony for the laying of the foundation stone. Products from the Wittenheim site are now delivered to over 120 countries. The company will invest a total of 30 million euros in the new building, creating a production capacity of 25,000 units per year. In addition, the building will also house an office complex with approx. 100 workplaces, the training centre, the company restaurant with 300 seats and a small museum. At the same time, Rational is taking advantage of the unique opportunity and will be constructing a sustainable building. For example, the efficient, slim and material-saving steel construction will be highly insulated and thus extremely energy-efficient. In addition, the building will be heated and cooled by a heat pump, intelligent, daylight-dependent LED lighting control with separate lighting zones to save energy and the high proportion of glass in the façade will ensure the best possible working conditions.
“The production of the 50,000th iVario proves that we are already producing outstanding products,” explained Wiedemann at the celebrations for the iVario Pro 2-S milestone unit, which is going to Elodie Louvet at her Bistro d’Elo in Verdun, France. Everything will be installed in time for the opening of the bistro on 1 July. Ms Louvet said on the subject: “I’m looking forward to using my new iVario for the first time and feel like I’m waiting for my Christmas present.” Since she is alone in the kitchen, she has opted for a combination of iVario and iCombi Pro and already knows that her work will change fundamentally.
Like Elodie Louvet, Rational is also optimistic about the future: “We look forward to turning many more customers into satisfied customers,” says Wiedemanns on the occasion of two celebrations at once.
