Upper Austria
Industrial production custom-made for the world market
The councillor for economics in the provincial government of Upper Austria, Kommerzialrat Viktor Sigl, gave the trade delegates a warm welcome to Upper Austria which, in terms of industrial production and exports, holds top position among the nine Austrian provinces (about 27%). Councillor Sigl pointed out that the province was continuing on its successful path and had recently attracted some notable international projects such as the Google server farm, to be established in the near future close to Enns/Steyr. The CdH delegation was then given a prepared presentation on Upper Austria's economic strategy followed by a question and answer session.
After this broad introduction to the province, the programme switched to a series of visits to three internationally recognised companies in the Linz region:
Borealis Innovation Headquarters, Linz
The new International Innovation Headquarters in Linz, Austria's third largest city, located close to the Danube, some 180 km west of Vienna, opened in 2009. More than 300 international experts from more than 30 different nations work closely together to bring innovative ideas to the market as quickly as possible - in accordance with their motto "nimbility" (nimble + ability). Their core business is developing plastics for applications such as pipes, films and injection mouldings for a variety of industries, in particular the automotive and packaging industries. The hi-tech analytical and testing labs with their unique equipment were shown to the visitors.
Voestalpine Stahlwelt
The Voestalpine Group is an internationally successful corporation offering one of the most comprehensive ranges of high quality steels and industrial solutions relating to steel. Headquartered in Linz, Voestalpine and its approximately 360 production and sales companies are present in more than 60 countries. In the business year 2009/10 the group generated sales of about EUR 8.6 billion. Voestalpine employs almost 40.000 employees worldwide.
The CdH delegation visited the company's museum, Voestalpine Steel World, where all aspects of the history, production technology and applications of steel were comprehensively displayed and explained. Comprising five floors, the building with its outstanding architecture and novel spatial aspects helped to convey striking impressions of the importance and scope of the material, steel.
Rosenbauer international
The Rosenbauer Group is one of the world?s largest manufacturers of fire fighting vehicles and equipment. Its wide range of fire fighting vehicles, including aerial platforms and nozzles, is used by local authorities, airports and industrial complexes world wide. And with its range of advanced fire fighting accessories, including high performance pumps and safety equipment, Rosenbauer is the industry`s one-stop-shop. Due to the many different national and regional standards and technical requirements world wide, almost every fire fighting vehicle is custom-made. Nevertheless, Rosenbauer produces about 700 of these vehicles each year.
With its worldwide sales and customer service network employing about 2,000 employees, Rosenbauer has a permanent presence in more than 100 countries. The company has been awarded numerous design and innovation prizes.
Closing function
At the end of a very full and informative programme, the visit was rounded off by a dinner at the elegant Promenadenhof restaurant in Linz hosted by the province of Upper Austria.
