Dealing with the acute lack of capital spending across the PV supply chain, major equipment supplier Meyer Burger is consolidating its production and technology operations after several years of leading an acquisition trail. The company said it would focus operations at four main production locations and two solar technology centres worldwide.
At the heart of the restructuring, Meyer Burger said a new solar technology centre would be established at its newly completed headquarters in Thun, Switzerland, which would be responsible for wafering and module assembly operations.
Therefore two subsidiaries, Meyer Burger and 3S Swiss Solar Systems will be located at the headquarters, with the closure of its Lyss, Switzerland facility. However, the 3S Modultec and 3S Photovoltaics technology brands would continue and be further developed at the headquarters site. The move should be completed at the end of March 2013, according to the company.
A second technology centre will be developed at its facilities in Hohenstein-Ernstthal, Germany, home to its most recent acquisition, Roth & Rau. Meyer Burger said that this technology centre would continue to develop next-generation solar cell processing technologies. The German operations in Zülpich and Colorado, USA would also remain responsible for production and equipment assembly.
The financial impact of the consolidations or future operational savings, were not disclosed.
