Schaltbau wins German Excellence Award 2025
Award recognizes the company’s activity-based working concept in its carbon-neutral production facility NExT Factory
Schaltbau, a global leader in direct current (DC) technology, has received the German Excellence Award (“Deutscher Exzellenz-Preis”) in the “Strategy & Transformation” category. The company has been honored for tailoring the office floor environment of its eco-friendly factory in Velden, Germany, to the different working modes required by staff as well the varying communication relationships between teams.
“When we planned our NExT Factory with a DC microgrid and smart energy management, we wanted to minimize energy losses that happen when direct current is converted into alternate current and vice versa. But we also wanted to minimize the ‘conversion losses’ that happen when teams don’t have the working environment or the fast mutual exchange they need,” said Dr. Michael Ettl, Senior Director Operations, Schaltbau. “We are very honored to receive this award. It shows that the principles of New Work, collaboration and transparency can very well transcend to manufacturing sites.”
The 2.000 m² open office space in the NExT Factory was designed on the basis of both qualitative workshop and quantitative survey data on the working methods and communication relationships of the various teams in the factory. It allows “activity-based working”, namely, provides inviting space for individual work and concentration as well as discussions and creative team meetings. The respective “home zones” of departments in the open space concept were arranged based on the communication relationships between the different teams, facilitating both transparency and smooth collaboration.
The NExT Factory has been in full operation since September 2023. With its advanced DC components, photovoltaic energy generation, intelligent energy management as well as battery and thermal storage, the NExT Factory saves up to 35% in annual energy costs. As a result, the facility is significantly less reliable on the conventional power grid and sets a new standard for carbon-neutral and electrified production.
Schaltbau is a global leader in DC power solutions, specializing in products and solutions that drive electrification across industries. With a broad portfolio of contactors, connectors, switches, and safety components, Schaltbau has been helping partners and customers solve challenges in rail for generations. Building on this legacy with its new brand Eddicy, they also develop cutting-edge solutions designed to meet the highest standards of safety and reliability for switching and protecting DC applications in energy and e-mobility. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, and supported by a global team of over 1,000 employees, Schaltbau continues to shape the future of electrification with nearly a century of expertise.