Bühler has inaugurated its new Cubic innovation campus in Switzerland, following an investment of approximately CHF 50 million ($49.5 million).
Located at the company’s headquarters in Uzwil, the facility has taken 20 months to build and will be used to conduct research into new and sustainable solutions.
The three-storey Cubic unit is designed to accommodate up to 300 people and houses eight application centres, including areas focused on chocolate, coffee, bakery, nutrition, grain and pasta.
Bühler said the ideas of customers and prototypes are tested in the application centres, where they are refined up to the point of market maturity.
According to the company, the Cubic building uses 15% less energy than comparable structures of its size and features an electrochromic glass facade, which enables energy consumption for heating and air conditioning to be slashed by as much as 50%.
The facility has eight application centres, including areas focused on chocolate, coffee, bakery, nutrition, grain and pasta.
Bühler Group CEO Stefan Scheiber said: “We are with this driving forward our strategy of innovation, training and development. Together with our customers, partners from industry and science, academia and start-ups, we are using the Cubic to conduct research into new and sustainable solutions that we can apply to successful business ventures. And we are taking a step forward here in providing modern training and development.”
He added: “This is our contribution to transforming the urgent global challenges of our time into solid business solutions together with customers, partners, academia, and start-ups.
“In this campus, we are also promoting new professional skills and competencies, modern learning and working methods, and collaborating with our partners.”
Bühler CTO Ian Roberts said: “The Cubic campus will become the epicentre of our collaborative ecosystem. It embodies our innovation spirit and culture, where we will inspire, discuss, understand and derive actions that will support us as an industry to create more sustainable value chains while contributing to addressing the burning environmental and societal challenges of our time.”
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