Technology in Motion, Hirschvogel Forged Metal on the Move in Ohio

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources; Houston, Texas). Construction kicked off in June on the $11 million, 18,000 square foot expansion of the Hirschvogel Incorporated (Columbus, Ohio) forged metals plant. Hirschvogel is a subsidiary of Hirschvogel Automotive Group, which in turn is a division of Hirschvogel Umformtechnik GmbH (Denklingen, Germany). The company, founded in 1938 as a black smith's shop by brothers Willy, Anton, and Hans Hirschvogel, currently has subsidiaries in Marksuhl and Schongau, Germany, and operates a plant in Columbus, Ohio. The company employs some 2,000 associates, supplying nearly 100% of production exclusively to the automotive industry. Hirschvogel considers Europe and North America its most important markets.

Before deciding on the Columbus expansion, Hirschvogel had considered locations in Germany, China, and South Carolina. They received significant Ohio state and local tax incentives. "It was the incentives that helped convince Hirschvogel's German parent company to bring a machining operation to the Columbus plant," President Mark Hoosier said. The tax breaks require that the company create about 50 jobs, but as many as 60 new jobs may be added to the current staff of 165. "The new building will house a new finishing machining operation that will allow Hirschvogel to finish some parts on site," Hoosier said. Currently, Hirschvogel sends the components off site for finishing.

This project is the first of three planned phases and is expected to be complete within the next six months. The following two phases, that will finalize the expansion, will be done over the next several years, adding more machinery and increasing the company's space from nearly 100,000 square feet to more than 170,000 square feet. Ventura Engineering (Columbus, Ohio) was awarded the design and construction contract for phase 1, which includes a 18,000 square foot building that will house the new machining operation.

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