GWF expands its headquarters in Lucerne

Lucerne, October 10, 2022 – For 123 years, GWF has been one of the manufacturing companies in the city of Lucerne. The fact that it remains so is due to the company’s ability to continue to develop and the opportunity to expand its headquarters on Obergrundstrasse.

GWF – an innovative traditional company from Lucerne

Since 1899, the family-owned company GWF has been producing measuring instruments for the utility industry at its location in Lucerne. In the past 7 years, the company has undergone intensive development and has grown from 130 employees to 250. On the one hand, the company has revised its business model in Switzerland and added numerous new products and solutions to its portfolio related to the measurement and management of valuable resources. On the other hand, the SME has also been able to position itself successfully internationally on the basis of patents, technologies and partnerships and now has 7 locations outside Switzerland. The headquarters in Lucerne can now be expanded in the short term, as the company can take over the adjacent property and the existing real estate.

An important part of the success is and remains the creation of value in Switzerland

“In 2018, we already made important investments in the future of our Swiss production with new testing facilities. We are particularly pleased that we can now further expand our manufacturing capacity at our founding location,” says Florian Strasser, who is the 6th generation to lead the company. He sees the company on a good course and is in a positive mood despite the numerous challenges. “The importance of precise measurement and data-based management of water and energy consumption is coming into even sharper focus due to climate change and geopolitical dependencies. As GWF, we may make a significant contribution to this with our technologies and solutions ‘made in Lucerne’.”

Securing the location thanks to the neighbor’s cooperation

The future viability of the Obergrundstrasse site would have been jeopardized in the short term without the purchase of the neighboring parcel. For this reason, the company had already started looking for alternatives in central Switzerland. The solution that has now been found is particularly pleasing and is due to the active cooperation of the neighbor. Christoph Weber, an entrepreneur from Schwyz who had previously used the property with his company REKAG, was able to move to a location at Langsägenstrasse 7 in Kriens that was better suited to his own needs. He then sought contact with the neighboring GWF, because it was clear to him that the neighbor would have the greatest possible use for his property. Thus, a quick and uncomplicated solution was found from family entrepreneur to family entrepreneur.

The employees view the development positively

“Due to the growing manufacturing volume, it was clear that something had to happen,” says Sacha Fessler, head of production in Lucerne. “The management kept us informed that solutions were being sought. But of course, there were concerns among the workforce that production would be relocated away from the city of Lucerne. The fact that it is now possible to send out such a clear signal for Lucerne as a location makes us all very happy,” the 45-year-old continues. GWF will move into the new space as soon as possible but must first complete some urgent conversion and renovation work.