Press

Amongst the approximately 160 invited guests from politics, agriculture, and the pet and food industries was also the Bavarian Minister of State for Nutrition, Agriculture and Forestry, Helmut Brunner, who was happy in this role that Josera has shown how effective a construction material timber is.
 
For Josera, timber as a construction material was considered to have an advantage over steel; its use is more economical for a manufacturer of foodstuff, it is more hygienic and also has advantages for fire prevention.
 
However the prescribed static calculations proved more complicated than for steel constructions. Company Director, Burkard Erbacher: “The statutes for industrial construction do not acknowledge timber as a construction material, so we had to completely invent all static calculations and attribute these large additional safety margins, we subsequently not only received permission, but also set a new standard for timber construction”. The 30 metre high building, in which 2,300 solid cubic metres of local timber from the Odenwald and Spessart were used, has also set a record: across Europe and possibly worldwide there is not equivalently sized or comparable warehouse building. State Minister Brunner commended the Kleinheubach record timber construction with the words: “my respect goes to the architects and building company, that they had the confidence to do this”.

Constructional distinctions
The structure was erected in a 20 month planning and construction period. The fully automatically operated building does not have a consignment hall and instead has three consignment corridors. The conveyor technology is provided by the Austrian company LTW, a company specializing in ski lift technology. The conveyor technology used is very simple and robust, but also very safe. It is highly robust against failure and easy to service. The excellent insolation of the building makes heating almost superfluous. The requisite heat is mainly provided by the stored products.
 
Construction with double features
In his speech at the celebration Erbacher stated that the timber not only plays a supporting role in the building, but the decision for timber is also supports the extensive efforts of the company for sustainable and  intergenerational economic activity. “We hereby test all our company decisions, as to whether they are not only economical, but above all how sustainably reconcilable and intergenerational these are”. Accordingly, Josera not only uses green electricity and other environmentally compatible technologies, but also has its own rail connection. This was, together with the construction of the fully automated high bay timber warehouse also newly constructed and is now expanded to an annual capacity of 65,000 tons, Erbacher told the guests to the inauguration.

Company family committed to high ethics
Overall, Josera has in the meantime been established in numerous countries in central, northern and Eastern Europe. Burkard Erbacher: “We see our work as a contribution to the healthy nutrition of animals and humans worldwide that creates a responsibility to ensure the quality is actually healthy and that this quality is affordable for all”. Erbacher not only convincingly spoke of company activities in the areas of sustainability in his speech, but also creditably spoke of the high safety and quality standards of the company, which are to a large extent voluntary and far exceed the legally prescribed standards.  In addition the family company has also long sponsored its own foundation in which they mainly support worldwide aid projects for the development of people in rural areas. State Minister Brunner described this as “praiseworthy” and a “contribution to worldwide social equality”.