Over HUF 5Bn Development at Schneider Electric

The Zalaegerszeg plant (in SW Hungary) of the French company Schneider Electric (SE) is modernizing production with a HUF 5.3 billion development, the workforce will be increased and the plant's gas heating will be replaced by a heat pump, the company's Zalaegerszeg plant manager said at an event on Wednesday to celebrate the plant's 30th anniversary.

László Petrényi, director of the Schneider Electric MG Zala factory, said that the automatic machines for the production of electrical circuit breakers, which were purchased with around half a billion forints, will soon be put into operation. New production lines have been purchased for around HUF 4.3 billion, and another half a billion is being spent to further modernize the production process.

Last year, the Zalaegerszeg plant increased its workforce by 150 to 600, and this year, it has hired 20 more employees and is expanding by another 40, the plant manager said.

He recalled that in 1993, the company, which was founded as a subcontractor at the time, started its development in Zala with only three employees, and in 2008 MG Zala and Schneider Electric merged. Despite the challenges facing the world economy, the multinational company outlined a five-year development period in which Hungary and Zalaegerszeg have a prominent role.

László Petrényi added that their aim is to reach maximum capacity to serve their customers with the most modern technology possible, digitizing and increasing efficiency in line with the "smart factory" concept. They have already begun the complete replacement of gas, with electrically powered heat pumps providing heating from the autumn, reducing the plant's carbon footprint to zero.

Zsolt Veres, SE's Country Director, said that this decade will be a decade of digitalization, sustainability and energy efficiency, which will also shape the company's day-to-day operations. In Hungary, they employ more than 2,200 people in their four factories, their regional logistics center and their international service centers.