Bühler breaks ground on R&D facility

Uzwil, Switzerland-based Bühler celebrated a ground breaking for what it is calling its Innovation Campus in Uzwil in late September 2017. The building is scheduled to be complete in the first quarter of 2019 and will cost an estimated 50 million Swiss francs ($51.8 million) to construct.

“This innovation campus will reinforce our innovation power and market leadership,” said Stefan Scheiber, CEO of Bühler, at the ground-breaking. “It will help us bring together the smartest minds of the industry to create innovations for a better world.”

The new facility will consist of what Bühler calls upgraded technology labs and a new innovation building. The new building will “build a bridge between the engineering and business world in the existing towers and the upgraded application labs,” says the company.

The Innovation Campus will serve as the home for project teams of employees, clients, start-ups, students and apprentices. It will include an auditorium that can seat up to 300 people as well as collaboration and a “maker space”, a media center and a co-working floor with open and secured spaces for more than 100 people. Bühler says its apprentices will benefit from a dedicated apprentice center with several training rooms.

“This building is focused on collaborative innovation,” says Ian Roberts, chief technology officer at Bühler. “We are creating a collaborative space for all functions, all ages, and all knowledge holders. It will allow us to live and foster our innovation culture and test future work practices.”

Bühler focuses on mechanical and thermal process engineering technologies for several industries, including sorting methods and equipment for recyclers.