The KTM brand was founded in 1934 by Hans Trunkenpols and initially a workshop for bicycles and motorcycles. Over the years, the factory expanded, eventually producing its first motorcycle in 1951 (the R100 model). The factory's third division, added later, produced radiators and complemented the motorcycle and bicycle divisions, which were incorporated into the same production facility.
Since then, a lot has changed, because in 1991 the company was split into three distinct companies, all united by the KTM brand. The two most famous companies are motorcycles and bicycles, which, despite having a lot in common, are two separate companies. Our trip takes us to visit the headquarters of KTM Bikes, KTM Fahrrad GmbH.
KTM Bikes: Image and substance beyond the bike
We are in Mattighofen in the heart of Austria, about 50 kilometers north of Salzburg, where the company's headquarters has maintained its headquarters and identity (the motorsports group is also located here). The town is supported by a brand, a global giant that fuels other non-sector product categories. Only by entering a reality like this, one realizes what the phrase can mean. “bikes Made in Austria” and the operation of a site like this and, in a certain sense, what a bicycle factory means.
We have learned to know KTM bikes thanks to the sponsorships of the pro teams, because of its Iconic colors and also thanks to e-bikes. The black-orange brand was one of the first to believe in and forcefully push the electric bike category. This segment is a driving force not only for the bike, but for the entire industry and Other companies have emulated KTM's approach. Il the connection with the electric bike was a sort of detonator which has allowed the activation of a series of evolutionary mechanisms: for example the entry of large amounts of capital from outside the sector. Consider the giant Bosch, which supplies electric bicycles. We can only imagine the enormous investments that lie behind it.
A mix of modernity and history
The Mattinghofen complex makes modernity its calling card. It is not "just" a futuristic structure, but a facility that is always active, that never sleeps and that is teeming with staff: approximately 480 people work there (400 workers, 80 employees)! The site is constantly expanding and is in all respects a technological poleThe bike designs are engineered and born inside, taking shape and developing right here. There is the immense warehouse dedicated to assembly, which It can assemble up to 1.400 bicycles in a day and covers an area of approximately 5.000 square meters. Numerous assembly stations, each with its own operator who is continuously supplied with frames and components. The technological/IT support of the machinery integrates seamlessly with the manual skills of the workers: organization, planning, but also order and method.
There is a more secluded one area dedicated to wheel assembly. A bike brand that assembles its own wheels? That's right, and it does so with an enormous production capacity, up to 3.000 per day, and each of these with a specific construction (based on the bicycle category). The older structures are being replaced by large, modern, mechanized, and automated warehouses. For example: the spare parts and accessories warehouse, which covers a space of 4.500 square meters (to which the offices must be added).
The assembly department, orderly and with a frenetic pace Still within the assembly department, but more secluded, a multi-point system dedicated to the construction of wheels
The assembly department, orderly and with a frenetic pace In the assembly department, a system dedicated to the construction of wheels
Amazing paint shop
There is a paint shop, which is among the largest in Europe (as far as the bicycle sector is concerned). Then there is one dedicated to quality control, where it is beautifully displayed The 3D machine that gives shape to the first drafts of the designs. What will the tube volumes of the next bikes be? Here we can preview them. Logistics has a new warehouse which can contain 28.000 bicycles: "Seen from inside" it's impressive. It's divided into two sections, one where the bicycle boxes are shipped, and one where the 28.000 bike boxes are shelved! We would have loved to see the R&D department and document the bikes of the future, but everything there is top secret (that's fine).
A small section of the paint tunnel. Not a single odor of paint can be detected throughout the entire site. Logos and decals are all applied by hand Once checked and validated, the frames move on to the assembly department How we would have loved to enter the R&D department and peek at the projects of the future
A small section of the paint tunnel. Not a single odor of paint can be detected throughout the entire site. Logos and decals are all applied by hand Once checked and validated, the frames move on to the assembly department How we would have loved to enter the R&D department and peek at the projects of the future
Our considerations
We like to close this article with a sentence: "the substance that goes beyond the image". Only by entering a reality like that of KTM Bikes, over 30.000 square meters of surface, you realize what the sentence means “Bikes Made in Austria” of the operations required by a company of this caliber and how technology is integrated to support manual skills. There is not just Asia, there is not just the Far East. We live in a globalized world, where everything in industry intersects and everything is connected. 28.000 bicycles stored inside a huge warehouse (which is emptied in less than a week and filled again in no time), it's not a random number and only in part, it gives an idea of how strong and growing the bicycle segment is.
