Fill completes new center for digitalization and software engineering

With an investment of about €10 million, automation specialist Fill (Gurten, Austria) has built a center, Future Zone, for digitalization, research and development at the company’s headquarters. According to Fill, the center will provide a look into the future of machine production, including intelligent simulation models that will elevate production planning, material utilization, productivity, reliability and system intelligence to a new level. With the Future Zone, Fill contends that it is setting another milestone on the road to the future.

“The global megatrend of digitalization is affecting practically every aspect of our lives," explains CEO and proprietor Andreas Fill. ”This makes it all the more important for competitiveness and innovative strength to be a pioneer in this field. With construction of the Future Zone, we are sending a strong signal and making a clear commitment to the Gurten plant.”

The 6,000-square-meter Fill Future Zone comprises three production halls for series manufacturing of production machines and the latest development projects for the automotive, aircraft, wind energy, sport and building industries. The complex also includes a logistics center, a 1,500-square-meter office complex and an in-house academy for customers. The center also provides space for 150 employees.

Another highlight in the new building complex, Fill notes, is the Innviertel Future Lab, which consists of a 140-square-meter laboratory, where schoolchildren from around the region can see and experience technology first-hand through presentations, workshops and various events; the aim here, Fill says, is to arouse young people's interest and develop a fascination for natural sciences, mechatronics and digitalization.

Together with project partner Futurespace GmbH (Wien, Austria), Fill is also creating a modular workshop for lateral work and thinking. The company says 15 schools in the region, from elementary to upper secondary schools, have already confirmed their participation in the project. The Innviertel Future Lab is scheduled to open its doors to the respective age groups and school classes in fall 2020.