Engel Temporarily Halts Production at Austrian Facilities Amid COVID‑19 Cases

On March 21, Engel (Schwertberg, Austria) announced a production pause at its St. Valentin plant, which builds injection‑molding machines with clamp forces ranging from 350 to 5,500 tons. The following day, the company extended the shutdown of its main Schwertberg plant from two days to 22 days, effective through April 15.

Six confirmed COVID‑19 cases have been reported within Engel’s workforce—four in Schwertberg and two in St. Valentin. An additional employee in St. Valentin tested positive, prompting the company to suspend manufacturing and assembly at both the large‑machine plant in St. Valentin and the robot plant in Dietach until April 15.

All infected staff are currently home and recovering. Despite the shutdown, Engel’s sales, application technology, and service teams—including the hotline and spare‑parts department—remain fully operational by phone and email. Global spare‑parts warehouses outside the Schwertberg, St. Valentin, and Dietach facilities continue to function normally.

In early March, Engel cancelled all scheduled spring events, imposed worldwide travel restrictions, and transitioned to virtual meetings. Enhanced hygiene protocols were introduced, and many employees shifted to remote work. At the time, visits to Engel’s Austrian plants were prohibited and all machine approvals were suspended until April 19.

Engel’s North American headquarters in York, PA, has moved “almost all” employees to home offices, implementing measures to mitigate risk for those required onsite to support operations and spare‑parts shipments.

Engel’s Austrian operations—including the machine assembly plant in Schwertberg—remain closed until April 15 following the sixth confirmed COVID‑19 case at the site.