Avnet opens technology campus in Germany

Avnet recently celebrated the opening of its new technology campus located 12 miles south of Freiburg in Eschbach, Germany. The facility provides design, manufacturing and integration of new purpose-built solutions, utilizing compute and display building blocks for customers serving IoT edge and data center markets. Products manufactured at the campus are typically for original equipment manufacturers (OEM) customers. Examples include cockpit controls for farming equipment, interfaces for medical diagnostic equipment, control panels for home automation systems, and servers for mission critical security applications.

Avnet celebrates the opening of its new technology campus in Germany. Located south of Freiburg, this state-of-the-art facility offers design, manufacturing, and integration of purpose-built solutions for IoT edge and data center markets. Source: Avnet

“The new Freiburg campus represents our strategy to increase our presence in Europe and diversify the locations of electronics manufacturing around the world,” said Avnet EMEA President Mario Orlandi. “The addition and scale of this campus allows us to not only design and manufacture compute systems but to also deliver them worldwide through Avnet’s global logistics operations.”

Includes design and engineering labs

The campus comprises 8,000 square meters (86,000 square feet) of manufacturing space to transform or fully customize compute-based solutions, such as medical equipment, infotainment systems, industrial control systems, and IT appliances. Solution complexity ranges from handheld appliances to full IT rack integration. It also includes design and engineering labs with 7,000 square meters (75,000 square feet) of logistics warehouse and 3,000 square meters (30,000 square feet) of offices and co-working space.

While most Avnet employees will transfer from the company’s original facility in Freiburg, which was acquired through an acquisition of MSC Technologies in 2013, Avnet also anticipates hiring new employees in all areas from manufacturing to management. In addition, an apprenticeship program will be offered in conjunction with local educational establishments to help train the next generation of technology workers.

Focus on sustainability

The facility was built specifically to achieve carbon-neutral operations and Avnet will seek the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) gold standard. This standard is an internationally recognized benchmark for sustainability.

Sustainable elements incorporated into the new construction:

• 100% carbon neutral design based on use of state-of-the-art automated manufacturing systems and building design.
• Innovative and highly automated manufacturing and the use of leading-edge technologies along with sustainable manufacturing processes to aid in achieving the goal of carbon neutrality for site operations.
• Enhanced insulation will help reduce energy consumption to about 40% of comparably sized buildings.
• A photovoltaic system will independently produce most of the energy required for building operations and manufacturing activities.
• The photovoltaic system with 532 kW peak and 308 kWh of electrical storage will also drive geothermal heat pumps to maximize heating/cooling efficiency, resulting in no consumption of fossil fuels for heating and cooling.
• 20 EV charging points to support the shift to zero emission vehicles.
• Attractive and friendly work environment with generous recreational and green spaces, creating a worksite employees embrace.