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The Independent Automotive Aftermarket Federation

60 years of electronics production in Hamm

Date: Thursday 08 April 2021

60 years ago, in March 1961, it began as a production site for flasher units, changeover relays and switches, with around 650 employees. Since then, the HELLA electronics plant in Hamm Bockum-Hövel has continuously developed into a high-tech location for innovative and sophisticated automotive electronics and with a production area of more than 25,000 square metres, is now one of the automotive supplier's largest production sites in Germany. Currently around 1,000 people are employed and the production programme ranges from radar sensors, radio keys and control units, to electronic steering systems and battery management systems.

"More than 150,000 electronic components currently leave our factory gates every day. That's more than twice as many as ten years ago," says plant manager Sebastian Rickert. "This is only possible because we are using a highly automated production process. In addition, new technologies are regularly introduced here at the site and transferred to other HELLA plants after a successful test phase. With this, we are taking on an important pioneering role in the global HELLA network."

In view of this role and because of the modern production process, Sebastian Rickert believes the plant is well positioned for the coming decades:

"The production portfolio is consistently aligned along the major automotive market trends. We will continue to successfully bring innovative solutions for the trend topics of electrification and autonomous driving into series production here at the site."