At the mention of Switzerland, magnificent images of snowy alpine peaks, glittering lakes, and lush grassy valleys speckled with village houses come to mind. As of 2024, the landlocked country is ranked ninth in the World Happiness Report and it’s not difficult to see why. People from all across the globe travel to Switzerland hoping to get a taste of ideal living, often vacationing in cities like Zurich and Lucerne or marvelling at the wintry landscapes of the Jungfrau region. But if there’s one place that truly captures the essence of Swiss excellence, it would have to be Zug.

A mere half an hour drive from Zurich Airport, Zug is an incredibly affluent town often likened, in some ways, to California’s Silicon Valley. But this analogy was far from clear at first glance. As a first time visitor to Zug, I was immediately drawn to its serene atmosphere and undeniable sense of vitality. There was the gorgeous Lake Zug—a vast body of water so blue that had it not been for the snow capped mountains in the distance it would surely blend into the skies above—and along it romantic scenes of everyday life that feel almost too perfect. Bees zipped between rows of tulips, Mallard ducks bathed in the shallows, and friends dangled their legs over the edge of the wooden pier, laughing over shared cans of beer. Beside the lake lay the Old Town of Zug; with its quiet cobblestone streets and quaint boutique stores, it transported you into a bygone era. Further still in the distance were verdant hillsides that stretched out far and wide, dotted here and there with clusters of houses connected to the town by a singular network of roads.

A place brimming with so much suburban charm, it is difficult to believe that Zug is also home to hundreds of thousands of companies, including a host of world-class enterprises in biotechnology, the pharmaceutical industry and beyond. Among them is premier appliances brand and Swiss household name V-ZUG, whose factory site is quite literally, the beating heart of the town. 

Swiss by origin

The V-ZUG factory is situated at the Tech Cluster Zug, an innovation district looking to create an ecosystem of production facilities, office buildings and real estate housing. The goal is to not only support V-ZUG’s ceaseless research and development efforts, but to invite greater synergy with other companies and institutions from around the world that are also playing a part in building our future. And because these days there is no conversation about the future that does not involve sustainability, it is only fitting that the V-ZUG production site stands at the core of the Tech Cluster Zug as not just a symbol of sustainability but as a a prime example of it. Eventually, each of the V-ZUG buildings will be connected to an underground Multi-Energy Hub, redistributing any excess energy they produce to the surrounding area to be used again for heating and other electricity needs.

Having already achieved carbon neutrality four years ago, V-ZUG has crafted a wholly modern vision of manufacturing tied to its roots as a Swiss brand. As part of the trip, I had the greatest honour of touring the brand’s production facilities. But to call them factories seemed far from accurate. For one, the buildings were large yet did not obstruct the view of Zug’s natural landscapes, and they were surprisingly well insulated—both characteristics that steer clear of the stereotypical image of a factory. I was told this is not only due to precise calculations and thoughtful architectural consideration, but born out of an agreement with the surrounding neighbourhood so as not to negatively impact their quality of life.

 

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Strolling through the factory site, particularly the V-ZUG Hangar designed by Swiss architectural studio Diener & Diener, you quickly learn that it’s not just the lives around the facility that V-ZUG pays great attention to, but also to the lives within. The V-ZUG Hangar is an impressive feat of architecture and sustainability. It has been constructed from about 1400 cubic metres of 100% Swiss timber, an unconventional and humanistic choice of material that not only greatly reduces greenhouse gas emissions compared with more traditional options, but lends the space a touch of natural beauty and openness. Nourishing amounts of daylight pour in from the building’s slanted roof sections, and workstations are intentionally placed beside windows while robots and machinery take up the central areas of the building which are farthest from light. From the cordial smiles and warm “good mornings” from the staff still present throughout the tour (we had arrived during their scheduled morning coffee break), it seemed clear that this arrangement was instrumental to their positive wellbeing. 

A complete foreigner to the world of manufacturing and robotics, I was in constant awe of the innovation that came out of the V-ZUG factory. The V-ZUG Hangar hosts the hydraulic press at its ground floor, a magnificent machine created specifically forthe brand’s needs, crafting aluminium and nickel parts for a variety of V-ZUG appliances. Meanwhile, the second floor consists of a highly organised network of surface treatment facilities and a transport line, ensuring tasks like enamel coating are done correctly—ovens get black, while steam ovens get blue.

A statistic pulled from the official V-ZUG summary report of the 2023 financial year states that there is an average of at least one V-ZUG appliance in every Swiss home, and the factory itself is proof of the brand’s high levels of output. Yet I would liken the V-ZUG factory more to a workshop, or an atelier if you will. With employees assigned manual quality checks at almost every stage of production, it’s a rather customised manufacturing process with importance still placed on human skill and craft. The V-ZUG PowerSteam ovens for instance are an almost bespoke creation; more complex in their construction, they rely on an extremely experienced team of three to assemble them 1-to-1. Witnessing these experts build V-ZUG appliances felt like watching artisans commit themselves to a haute couture piece, fuelled by intention and unwavering passion.

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