Tesla Automation GmbH (formerly Grohmann Engineering GmbH) is a German engineering automation company based in

Prüm Prüm () is a town in the Westeifel (Rhineland-Palatinate), Germany. Formerly a district capital, today it is the administrative seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") Prüm. Geography Prüm lies on the river Prüm (a tri ...

in the state of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

. The company operates a development center in

Neutraubling Neutraubling is a town in the state of Bavaria in southern Germany, in the district of Regensburg. The town has only existed since 1951. After the second world war, displaced ethnic Germans from Sudetenland (Czech Lands) or former eastern territo ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, as well as support offices in

Chandler, Arizona Chandler is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and a suburb in the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). It is bordered to the north and west by Tempe, to the north by Mesa, to the west by Phoenix, to the ...

, and

Shanghai, China Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

. The company was founded in 1963 by Klaus Grohmann and acquired by

Tesla, Inc. Tesla, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Tesla designs and manufactures electric vehicles (electric cars and trucks), battery energy storage from home to grid- ...

, in January 2017. Klaus Grohmann was ousted after clashing with Tesla CEO

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a business magnate and investor. He is the founder, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX; angel investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; owner and CEO of Twitter, Inc.; founder of The Bori ...

. The product portfolio includes machinery for the production of

microprocessor A microprocessor is a computer processor where the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit, or a small number of integrated circuits. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circu ...

s and memory chips,

airbag An airbag is a vehicle occupant-restraint system using a bag designed to inflate extremely quickly, then quickly deflate during a collision. It consists of the airbag cushion, a flexible fabric bag, an inflation module, and an impact sensor. Th ...

sensors and

power steering A power steering is a mechanical device equipped on a motor vehicle that helps drivers steer the vehicle by reducing steering effort needed to turn the steering wheel, making it easier for the vehicle to turn or maneuver at lower speeds. Hydraul ...

controllers, as well as systems for the production of car door and roof seals, lithium-ion

battery cell An electrochemical cell is a device capable of either generating electrical energy from chemical reactions or using electrical energy to cause chemical reactions. The electrochemical cells which generate an electric current are called voltaic ...

s and modules. Among other things, the company manufactures robotics that are used in the battery and electronics production for

at its

Gigafactory 1 Gigafactory Nevada (also known as Giga Nevada or Gigafactory 1) is a lithium-ion battery and electric vehicle component factory in Storey County, Nevada, US. The facility, located east of Reno, is owned and operated by Tesla, Inc., and supplie ...

. The firm works closely with universities within dual track studies of

Mechanical Engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

and

Robotic Process Automation Robotic process automation (RPA) is a form of business process automation technology based on metaphorical software robots (bots) or on artificial intelligence (AI)/digital workers. It is sometimes referred to as ''software robotics'' (not to be ...

. In addition, it provides training in the field of Technical Product Design, Industrial Mechanics, CNC Operation, Construction Technology, IT, Mechatronics and Industrial Electronic Technology.

History

Grohmann Engineering was founded by Klaus Grohmann in 1963. It moved its headquarters to Prüm in 1983. In November 2016, the privately held company agreed to be acquired by the American automotive company

Tesla Motors Tesla, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Tesla designs and manufactures electric vehicles (electric cars and electric truck, trucks), battery energy storage from ...

. At the time, 74.9% of the company was owned by Klaus Grohmann and 25.1% was owned by the . At the time, the company had 700 employees, with annual revenues of about €120 million. The deal was completed on 3 January 2017, at which point the company employed 800 people. According to a May 2017 SEC filing, Tesla paid $109.5 million in cash for the company, and in addition paid $25.8 million for a new incentive compensation agreement. In April 2017, founder Klaus Grohmann left the company due to a dispute with Tesla CEO

. Musk demanded the company halt production for competitors, such as BMW and

Daimler AG The Mercedes-Benz Group AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufacture ...

, to focus on the

Model 3 The Tesla Model 3 is a Compact executive car, compact executive Sedan (car), sedan that is Battery electric vehicle, battery powered and produced by Tesla, Inc., Tesla. Limited production of the Model 3 began in mid-2017, with the first produ ...

. By discontinuing business relations with all customers except Tesla, the company's union was concerned with wage levels and with jobs in the long term if electric cars did not have the expected success. Tesla then offered Grohmann employees a raise of 150 euros per month and employee stock options worth $10,000 with a payout over the following four years, as well as a one-time cash payment of 1000 euros. Tesla did not comment on the required

collective agreement A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...

. In October 2017, the company agreed with union representatives on a competitive pay structure. According to the chairman of the

works council A works council is a shop-floor organization representing workers that functions as a local/firm-level complement to trade unions but is independent of these at least in some countries. Works councils exist with different names in a variety of re ...

, the future remuneration was at the level of the collective agreement valid for the industry.Deutschland: Tesla einigt sich auf deutliche Gehaltssteigerung
, September 2017

References

External links

* {{Coordinate, NS=50/12/52.40/N, EW=06/26/51.80/E, type=landmark, region=DE-RP Grohmann Automation Tesla factories Mechanical engineering 2017 mergers and acquisitions Companies based in Rhineland-Palatinate Bitburg-Prüm