The ebm‑papst Group, the world’s leading supplier of fans and motors, today officially inaugurated its new HighSpeed Technical Center in Mulfingen. In a ceremony attended by Baden-Württemberg State Premier Winfried Kretschmann, Harald Ebner (Member of the German Bundestag), Catherine Kern (Member of the State Parliament of Baden-Württemberg), Ian Schölzel (District Administrator of Hohenlohe District), Sören Döffinger (Mayor of Mulfingen), the three shareholder families and some 150 other guests, ebm‑papst opened this facility – unique within the company and the industry – to develop new markets and areas of application for energy-efficient high-tech solutions enabled by its HighSpeed turbo compressors.

Dr. Klaus Geißdörfer, CEO of the ebm‑papst Group, said at the opening ceremony: “This HighSpeed Technical Center is a symbol of innovation and technology leadership, making it an important element of our “Making the Future Together” strategy, which we use to focus on our international core segments of ventilation and heating technology, as well as on digitalization and sustainability. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have worked hard on this project for years and are now making it reality.”

State Premier Winfried Kretschmann said: “The investment by ebm‑papst in the new HighSpeed Technical Center represents a strong commitment to the Baden-Württemberg site and to good jobs for the future. There is a growing global market for compressors – for example, for the heat pumps that play a key role in climate-neutral heating systems. With the launch of small-batch production, ebm‑papst is preparing to leverage these opportunities. The company is therefore a good example of how the current transformation can be addressed actively and sustainably.”

Since 2015, ebm‑papst has invested around EUR 60 million in the HighSpeed project. Some EUR 15 million of this total went into the building and its technology. The investment has also created 60 new jobs in the HighSpeed segment in recent years.

“At ebm‑papst, we aim to create sustainable and intelligent solutions for a better climate, for people and to protect our environment. The innovative HighSpeed turbo compressors are an excellent example of this and set new standards in terms of efficiency and noise performance,” explained ebm‑papst shareholder Jan Philippiak. Shareholder Ralf Sturm added: “The extensive investment in thishigh-tech HighSpeed Technical Center reflect the clear commitment of the shareholders and management to securing the future long-term success of ebm‑papst.”

The HighSpeed Technical Center in detail

An interdisciplinary team of around 70 employees works in the HighSpeed segment to develop manufacturing processes and produce compact, energy-efficient and oil-free turbo compressors. The Technical Center is the link between product development and future series production. It is not just about the product itself but also about the flexible processes needed to develop prototypes, produce small batches and then ramp up to larger batches at competitive costs before transferring the compressors to series production.

The HighSpeed products manufactured in the Technical Center are used in air conditioners or heat pumps, for example, and compress refrigerants as efficiently as possible. At the same time, they are durable and quiet, require little maintenance and have a low weight and low current consumption. They are used to compress natural refrigerants like propane and require significantly less refrigerant.

In this way, ebm‑papst is expanding its product range in terms of resource conservation and energy-efficient HighTech solutions, thus making an important contribution to sustainability and mitigating global warming.

The turbo compressors were presented by ebm‑papst for the first time at the 2023 Hannover Messe trade fair and have since attracted a great deal of interest from customers.