Schmitz Cargobull celebrates the production of its 2,000,000th axle

October 2024 – Schmitz Cargobull, Europe’s leading manufacturer of semi-trailers, has reached an important milestone. In late September, its plant in Altenberge produced its 2,000,000th axle. Since the Schmitz Cargobull axle was launched in 2004, the company has continued to invest in the optimisation and automation of its axle production facilities. Dr Günter Schweitzer, Board Member Operations at Schmitz Cargobull, took the opportunity to thank and congratulate the team on the axle production line in person.

“The fact that we have produced as many as two million of our own axles over the past 20 years highlights the quality and reliability of our technology and demonstrates that our axles meet our customers’ high standards and deliver an impressive performance,” explained Schweitzer. “This is also reflected in the results of the recent reader survey conducted by ETM publishers, which saw the Schmitz Cargobull axle being voted number 1 by readers and users.”

The axle plays a key role in determining a trailer’s running costs and economic efficiency. This is why Schmitz Cargobull has continuously enhanced its axles and running gears, along with the production facilities that build them. A key milestone in this process was the creation of a fully automated, digitally controlled axle production process, which was implemented at Altenberge in 2023 as part of the strategy to transform Schmitz Cargobull plants into “smart factories”. The axles produced in Altenberge also supply the company’s production sites in Vreden (D), Gotha (D), Panevėžys (LT), Adapazarı (TR), Zaragoza (E) and Manchester (UK). Around 95 percent of all trailers from Altenberge and over 90 percent of vehicles across the Group are equipped with Schmitz Cargobull’s in-house axle.