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March 9 & 10, 2027 | RITTAL, HERBORN

Congress 2027 FACTORY OF THE YEAR
The winners will be announced soon

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FACTORY OF THE YEAR CATEGORY WINNER MAPLAN on the stage getting their award
FABRIK DES JAHRES - Startup Challenge

FACTORY OF THE YEAR 2027

March 9 & 10, 2027 | Rittal, Herborn
Learn from the best manufacturing plants: At the FABRIK DES JAHRES conference, award-winning plants will present their strategies, best practices, and models for success—complemented by keynote speeches, networking opportunities, plant tours, and the awards ceremony.

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Gesamtsieger 2025 - Rittal Gmbh

Factory of the Year Congress 2027:
A Visit to Rittal

Experience how an award-winning “Factory of the Year” facility operates: Rittal Haiger, the overall winner of the 2025 competition, is opening its doors to participants of the 2027 Congress. With a high degree of automation, networked processes, and a consistent focus on the customer, the facility sets new standards in efficiency and flexibility. During the plant tour, you’ll gain exclusive insights into the digital end-to-end connectivity, production processes, and success factors of this award-winning plant.

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FABRIK DES JAHRES 2027 auf einen Blick

CONFERENCE AT RITTAL IN HERBORN

Spend two days learning from the best in manufacturing: 
The winning plants from the FACTORY OF THE YEAR competition will provide insights 
into their strategies, models for success, and best practices—supplemented by a personal exchange of experiences with leading manufacturing executives.

FACTORY TOUR AT RITTAL IN HAIGER

Experience outstanding production right on site:
During the factory tour at the Rittal plant in Haiger, you’ll gain
exclusive insights into the processes, technologies, and production concepts of the overall winner of the FACTORY OF THE YEAR 2025 award—in a practical, first-hand setting.

GALA AT THE NATIONAL CAR MUSEUM

Look forward to a special conclusion to the conference day: At the evening gala at The Loh Collection National Automobile Museum, the winners of the FACTORY OF THE YEAR award will be honored in a festive ceremony. Take advantage of the evening to engage in personal conversations and network in an extraordinary atmosphere.

Rittal Haiger inside

Factory tour at Rittal Haiger

Experience the “Factory of the Year 2025” firsthand.

During the plant tour at the Rittal facility in Haiger, you’ll gain exclusive insights into a highly automated and digitally integrated smart factory. Across approximately 24,000 m², networked machines, automated material flows, and digital processes work in tandem. See firsthand how Rittal puts Industry 4.0 into practice and produces thousands of small and compact enclosures every day—and take away concrete ideas to apply to your own production.

Speaker on stage talking about design for a better life

What participants take away from the winning entries

Concrete lessons that can be applied in your own plant.
 
The winning plants not only show results, but also the decisions and implementation steps behind them. At the congress, these best practices are presented in such a way that concrete approaches for your own plant can be developed.

  • Which levers work first: priorities that winning plants set at the beginning – and why.
  • How implementation remains stable in everyday life: standards, routines, and management mechanisms that really work.
  • How performance is measured and controlled: key performance indicator logic of the winning plants and typical leading indicators.
  • What kind of organization makes this possible: roles, responsibilities, and skills that support implementation.
  • What is transferable – and what needs to be adapted: guidelines for product mix, volume, and location conditions.

View the 2026 program

Why it's worth participating

Winning projects live – including implementation logic. Not just results, but decisions, approaches, and impact.
Exchange between decision-makers and project managers. Ask questions, clarify transfer, learn shortcuts.
All packed into two days. Congress, exhibition, award ceremony/gala, and optional factory tour.

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The award-winning projects that will set the standard in 2025

The 2026 award categories will be announced soon!

FACTORY OF THE YEAR 2025
Rittal GmbH & Co. KG,  
Werk Haiger
Lecture: From Industry 4.0 factory to AI factory: E2E customer centricity as the guiding principle of transformation
 

GEO Award
JACOB Group,  
Werk Porta Westfalica
Lecture: We live JACOB! For our customers, for our future, for all of us

Excellent Series Production
SEW-EURODRIVE GmbH & Co. KG,
Werk Halle Nord in Graben-Neudorf
Lecture: Smart Factory of the Future - North Hall: Innovation, courage, curiosity, and passion for top-quality production

Outstanding Small-Batch Production
MAPLAN Group,
Werk Kottingbrunn (AT)
Lecture: Special machine construction in sync: Flexibility in line production, lean administration – transparency and speed in the office

Excellent Digitization & Automation
egeplast international GmbH,
Werk Greven
Lecture: Sustainable digitalization – egeGigaFab as a pioneer for tomorrow's production

Excellent Transformation Location
Eppendorf SE,
Werk Leipzig
Lecture: How COVID-19 became a catalyst for change for us!

The event at a glance

The FACTORY OF THE YEAR conference has been held annually since 1992 -
time to take a closer look at the figures from previous years:

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0

Conferences & Award Ceremonies

Experience, Format, Community
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0

Award-winning winning entries

Best practices from the industry
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Days
Practical transfer

Lectures, discussions, factory tour, gala
best deal

Early Bird Ticket 2027

1.880 €

#Factoryoftheyear

  • 2 days of conference participation
  • Evening gala including awards ceremony
  • Factory tour at RITTAL
  • Visit to the trade exhibition
  • Documentation of the presentations
  • Lunch & coffee breaks
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Standard Ticket 2027

1.980 €

#Factoryoftheyear

  • 2 days of conference participation
  • Evening gala including awards ceremony
  • Factory tour at RITTAL
  • Visit to the trade exhibition
  • Documentation of the presentations
  • Lunch & coffee breaks
Get your Ticket

Topics at the 2026 Congress

Practical knowledge from award-winning works – plus keynotes and exchange formats. Focus: Automation, agility, and sustainable location strategies.

Production planning & resilience
Automated planning in uncertain times – approaches that increase stability and responsiveness.
End-to-end digitization
Which process and data chains really work – from planning to the shop floor.
Transformation through digitalization & automation
Practical examples from winning plants: sustainable digitization and automation – with an impact on everyday plant operations.
Community
Effectively implementing change in the plant
How locations accelerate change (even under pressure) – and what mechanisms contribute to this.
Experience best practice live
Factory tour with presentation at Wilo: Insights into an award-winning smart factory and on-site exchange.
Frequently asked questions about the congress

Frequently asked questions about the congress

Where and when will the congress take place?
The conference will take place on March 9 and 10, 2027, in Herborn at RITTAL.

What is included in the ticket?
The ticket includes 2 congress days, trade exhibition, catering, evening gala, and factory tour (optional). In addition, there is a password-protected download area with approved documents.

Can someone else attend if someone else is unable to make it?
Yes, in many cases, you can transfer a ticket to another person. This can be done free of charge up to one day before the event begins. Please contact the participant service for more information:  teilnehmer@service.ultimamedia.de.

Speakers 2026:
Voices from production and plant management

All speakers

Success stories of the winning entries

Reports, interviews, and analyses in the trade journal “Produktion”

Every year, FABRIK DES JAHRES (Factory of the Year) honors production sites that set standards in efficiency, digitalization, and sustainability.
If you want to delve deeper, the trade journal “Produktion” features detailed articles on the winning plants – including background information, classifications, and practical examples.

What you will find there:

  • Reports from award-winning factories
  • Interviews with factory managers
  • Analyses of methods, key figures, and implementation

To the winner stories

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Contacts

Franziska Blume
Franziska Blume Head of Production & Environment
franziska.blume@ultimamedia.de
Jessica Schmitz-Nellen Sponsorship & Trade Exhibition
+49 (0)8191 125-445 jessica.schmitz-nellen@huethig.de
Yvonne Piche - Sponsorship & Trade Exhibition
Yvonne Piche Sponsorship & Trade Exhibition
+49 (0)8191 125-592 yvonne.piche@media-manufaktur.com
Antonia Höcker
Antonia Höcker Eventorganisation
+49 (0)8191 125-322 antonia.hoecker@ultimamedia.de

30 years FACTORY OF THE YEAR

In 2022, we celebrated the 30th FACTORY OF THE YEAR. It all started in 1992 - back then on a much smaller scale - today, FACTORY OF THE YEAR has established itself as the most important industry get-together and awards the Oscar for the manufacturing industry every year.