The new telecommunications center was built in less than 18 months. (Photo: © TK Elevator / Philip Schwarz)
December 2025
TK Elevator (TKE) held a big ceremony in Esslingen to open its new centre for lift technology. Research and development are to be bundled with the production of the latest lift technology on a site of 33,000 m2. This also accommodates a completely digitalised logistics centre.
By Ulrike Lotze
The entire management team of TKE made the trip to attend the opening of the "Product Competence Center" in September: CEO Uday Yadav, the Europe and Africa CEO Bora Gülan and the head of the new plant, Dr Michael Loh.
"Where we used to produce 500 units, we can now assemble 7,000 a year thanks to the first-class processes," Uday Yadav observed with reference to the investment of 80 million euros in the new Esslingen Product Competence Center.
Bora Gülan then addressed the choice of location, "This centre reflects our strong commitment to this region, in which we and our colleagues from TK Elevator have been deeply rooted for decades, as well as to the city of Esslingen, which welcomed us with open arms," remarked the CEO for the regions Europe and Africa.
The lift technology centre on the site of the former automotive subcontractor Eberspächer was erected in less than 18 months. A PV installation is to be commissioned this year: it should provide about 2 GW of green electricity. The total area at Esslingen is 33,000 m2 of which about 25,000 m2 are taken up by production. A training workshop with room for up 30 apprentices was also integrated. It can also be used by partner companies.
The new production centre will house production of the new EOX lift platform. At the same time, innovations for high-rise lifts and the further development of gearless lifts with modern belt technology are to be promoted there. Furthermore, expertise in the field of traction drives is to be bundled at the new South German location, according to a press release of the lift builder. The 20 m high test shafts permit immediate trials of new products under realistic conditions.
The new production location also accommodates a fully digitalised spare parts warehouse on an area of 5,700 m2. This will make Esslingen a central hub for Central and North Europe. It is expected soon to support the maintenance of about 250,000 lifts and escalators. The group already opened its first intelligent spare parts warehouse for the repair and maintenance of lifts five years ago in Madrid. It now supplies South and Central Europe.
At Esslingen, the plan is for cloud-supported warehouse processes and AI integration in combination with digital maintenance tools to support preventive maintenance and minimise downtimes. Service technicians will receive spare parts directly in their vehicles or at personal delivery points by means of "smart delivery". According to TKE, this will permit fast repairs during the first deployment with a success rate of over 80 percent. "The supply chain will be reduced by 30 percent, which will make serving customers much faster."
"We’re proud of what we’ve built up here in Esslingen: a site that connects German engineering with the future," emphasised the plant manager, Dr Michael Loh. TKE was committing itself to Germany as a location with the production centre.
Loh added, "But at the same time we’ve assumed the obligation to configure this location to be profitable. This is by no means a simple task."
At the old production site in Neuhausen only a little over 400 people are still employed. The cutting of 500 jobs was announced three years ago. At its peak, approximately 1,000 people were employed at Neuhausen. TKE attributed the job cuts at the end of 2022 to falling capacity utilisation.
Esslingen’s mayor, Matthias Klopfer, mentioned the change in location in his speech at the opening ceremony. "At this point, I would also like to thank the Works Council and I.G: Metall trade union, which supported this transformation process together with the management in such a positive manner. This meant industrial, development and service jobs could be preserved in the Stuttgart region."
More informations: tkelevator.com/de-de
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