Mewa on course for growth

Mewa on course for growth

Stefan Janzen, technical managing director and Philipp Mell, commercial managing director of Mewa Austria invited people to the annual press tavern and this time brought spectacular news with them. “Despite the current mood of crisis in industry and commerce, we continued to grow in 2024 and have therefore decided to expand our main plant in Schwechat,” announces Janzen. A new building complex for production and environmental technology is currently being built on an area of ​​7,000 square meters, built according to sustainable principles. The Mewa Group is investing 55 million euros in Schwechat, its largest location alongside Salzburg and Raaba-Grambach near Graz. The groundbreaking ceremony took place in May 2024 and commissioning is planned for the end of 2025. “Mewa is growing primarily through expansion towards South-Eastern Europe,” explains Philipp Mell. The cleaning cloth service is also in increasing demand in Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia. Mell has been working at Mewa for over 15 years and, at the beginning of 2024, succeeded long-time commercial managing director Bernd Feketeföldi, who went into well-deserved retirement.

“With the expansion, we are doubling the capacity in the cleaning cloth service division and creating new space for the work clothing and floor mats divisions,” explains Stefan Janzen. Although the process of cleaning cloths is largely automated and is also supported by AI, the expansion will create 30 new jobs at Mewa. While around 6 million cleaning cloths were previously passed through the washing facilities per month, this will increase to 12 million after the expansion. The entire building is designed for energy efficiency. “We use internal energy sources to cover our own energy needs,” explains Janzen. The energy from the steam boilers is used via a heat exchanger to heat the hall areas.

Since 1968, companies in Austria and its neighboring countries have been using the all-round service for company textiles from Mewa Austria. According to the motto “Use instead of own”, the textile service provider supplies companies with work, protective and business clothing, reusable cleaning cloths, floor mats and oil collection mats as well as washroom hygiene. The textiles used are picked up, washed, repaired and replaced if necessary according to a fixed rhythm. The service also includes advice on clothing selection so that the items of clothing fit perfectly and occupational health and safety requirements can be taken into account. The almost 8,500 customer companies include medium-sized car dealerships, craft businesses and industry. Around 40 percent of cleaning cloths are used in motor vehicle companies.