BABOR BEAUTY CLUSTER The BABOR BEAUTY CLUSTER: a state-of-the-art and sustainable production and logistics site for the BABOR BEAUTY GROUP

• A commitment to Made in Germany: the Aachen-based family company is investing 60 million in a new production and logistics cluster.
• Isabel Bonacker, co-owner: “We want to make the company future-proof.”
• Goal: to achieve the highest possible energy self-sufficiency by 2030.

The new production and logistics cluster of the BABOR BEAUTY GROUP is a state-of-the-art cosmetics factory and operates according to exceptional sustainability standards. The family company invested more than 60 million euros in the project, thereby tripling its company premises. “The BABOR BEAUTY CLUSTER represents the future of the BABOR BEAUTY GROUP. We are setting a sign for growth, for sustainability and for quality Made in Germany,” says Isabel Bonacker, co-owner of the BABOR BEAUTY GROUP. “With the investment in the BABOR BEAUTY CLUSTER – the largest in the company’s history – we are investing in much more than just a building,” she continues. “We are investing in ‘future-proofing’ – the future of the company.”Quality Made in Germany.
On a 60,000 square meter plot of land, the BABOR BEAUTY CLUSTER includes a filling plant with space for up to 50 filling and picking lines. This is where the cosmetics company’s jars, tubes, sachets and ampoules are filled – more than half a million units every day. This doubles the company’s unit capacity. In addition, there is the global distribution center, which relies on reliable, high-performance logistics. In the logistics hall, pallets and boxes can be safely stored up to a height of seven meters. This area is supplemented by a state-of-the-art shuttle warehouse, in which 60 shuttles quickly transport products to be shipped to the pick and pack stations. Employees will find attractive, ergonomic workplaces and driverless vehicles will take over the transport of heavy work materials. The visual highlight of the new building is the head building, which includes a spacious reception and administration area as well as the employee restaurant. More than 300 employees are employed at the new plant in Eschweiler-Inden, about 20 kilometers from the headquarters in Aachen. The location is special: the BABOR BEAUTY CLUSTER stands on a former spoil tip. Eschweiler is located in the middle of the former Rhenish lignite mining area. Horst Robertz, Managing Director for Procurement, Production and Research, emphasizes: “The BABOR BEAUTY CLUSTER is a milestone for our company and for this region undergoing structural change. One of the most modern and sustainable cosmetics factories in the world has been built here.” Robertz is also confident about the future: “We want to offer our employees very good, secure jobs here and we also want to create new jobs.”Smart Energy.
All building structures meet the KfW 40 energy efficiency standard. The BABOR BEAUTY CLUSTER is therefore a high-efficiency building that consumes 60 percent less energy than a standard building. The heart of the energy supply is a gigantic photovoltaic system on the roof, which is intended to produce the majority of the required electricity. The goal is for the building to operate as energy self-sufficiently as possible from 2030. In conjunction with heat pumps and heat recovery, the BABOR BEAUTY CLUSTER will operate practically without fossil fuels – the only exception being the special machines for ampoule production. Here, too, the company is working on a sustainable solution. The factory thus follows the “All Electric Principle”. A so-called storage cube with car batteries stores electricity from the solar system when it is not needed in order to feed it into consumption later. The capacity of this cube covers the daily electricity consumption of 120 single-family homes.