Toronto, Ontario, Canada – October 1, 2009… Together with the staff and many guests of honor at their company headquarters in Rastatt/Germany on September 18th, Lawo AG celebrated with a topping out ceremony for their new building. New rooms, directly adjoining the current premises, have expanded the ground floor to double its size (from 11,500 sq ft. to 23,000 sq ft.). ‘Moving house’ will take place at the end of 2009. The additional space is mainly designed to achieve a more efficient manufacturing process with a significant increase in capacity. The new part of the building also provides additional offices and demo studios. This current development is the largest expansion in the company’s history.
During a tour of Lawo’s headquarters, prominent guests of honor, including Ernst Pfister, Minister of Economic Affairs (Secretary of Commerce) for the German state Baden-Wuerttemberg, and Hans Juergen Puetsch, Lord Mayer of Rastatt, had the opportunity to find out more about this successful mid-size company, and to get an overview of mixing console development and manufacture. In his concluding speech, Minister Pfister expressed how impressed he was by the innovative drive behind the family-owned company, and described the development of Lawo AG as a prime example of an economic success story.
Another great reason to party will occur soon after moving into the expanded premises: the Rastatt-based family enterprise was founded in 1970 by Peter Lawo, father of present CEO Philipp Lawo, so a 40th anniversary celebration is in order for the start of 2010.
Since the foundation of the company, development and manufacturing have been based in Rastatt. Lawo, currently with 160 employees at their Rastatt headquarters, develops and produces audio mixing consoles for the professional radio and TV sectors. At first, they manufactured unique products for demanding customers in Germany. With the step from analogue to digital technology in the late 90s, the company mastered the first big technological revolution. In these days, CEO Philipp Lawo succeeded his father and founder of the company, Peter Lawo. Also, the product policy changed: the individual solutions of the first decades for German broadcasters were replaced by flexibly configurable standard solutions.
Philipp Lawo also pushed the internationalization of the company. Subsidiaries in Switzerland, Canada, Australia, China, and Singapore, as well as a worldwide partner network are, today, the pillars of international sales and service. Since the foundation of the company, development and manufacturing has been based in Rastatt. The expansion of the facility is a clear commitment by the company to this location, and to the preservation and growth of jobs.
The vertical range of manufacturing - from the market-orientated product development to programming, construction, and production to the completed product - guarantees the high quality standards of the products by applying test routines in any phase. Lawo has always placed much value on continuously optimizing their products and developing new features and products. This innovation force was awarded early this year with the Silver Innovation Award 2008 of the German Economy.
The large mixing consoles of today are typically used for production in radio and TV stations, during big international events like “Formula One” and “European Song Contest” as well as for the production of World and European soccer championships or the Olympic Games.
After the use of more than 50 mc² Series consoles during the Olympic Games in Beijing 2008, new events come up in 2010 - the broadcast of the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver/Canada ,and the Soccer World Championship in South Africa where, again, many Lawo mixing consoles will produce the top-quality sound for TV viewers all over the world.
About Lawo
Lawo is a manufacturer of digital audio networking systems and consoles for a wide range of applications from small to large scale audio production in television and radio, post production, and live sound. Established in the 1970s, the company’s manufacturing center is located in the Rhine valley town of Rastatt, Germany. For additional information on all Lawo products, visit the company online at www.lawo.ca.
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Photo info: Ernst Pfister, German Minister of Economic Affairs (Secretary of Commerce) - center – as he listens to explanations of Philipp Lawo, CEO of Lawo AG, during the factory tour.
Photo credit: Mauderer/Badisches Tagblatt
