FEATURE An early photo of the factory
PHOTO: GAZELLE BIKES
How Royal Dutch Gazelle Built a Future Around its Past
In Dieren, the town and the factory are now one and the same. Once solitary, the
town grew around what remains of the original building. And by going behind the scenes and observing the 85-second rhythm of an assembly line built into the shell of a 19th-century landmark, I discovered how Gazelle balances its ‘Royal’ status
W
hen BikeBiz was invited to visit the Gazelle factory, I expected a museum. In part, that is exactly what I found, but not in the way I anticipated. At the heart of the site stands the original 1902 factory building, a blend
of architectural styles, including the brick facade that has survived two world wars. But, instead of being a silent relic, it is the reminder of their roots that now houses a vast, high- tech production hub. Since the late 19th century, the town of Dieren has expanded
around the factory walls. In 2014, rather than relocating to a nameless industrial estate, Gazelle chose to build their new 7,000 m² assembly hall and Experience Centre directly onto the
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existing heritage buildings. Today, the modern production lines snake through the very heart of their history. Arriving at the factory, I was pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere. If you have a preconceived notion of what a bicycle factory looks like, Gazelle might be the complete opposite of that. The facility is bright and remarkably clean, carrying what in my mind reflects an automotive standard of organisation. Yet, it isn’t sterile. The air was filled with the rhythmic sounds of people working: the steady beeps of the assembly line, the mechanical whir of tracks, hiss of paint sprayers, and the steaming of drying ovens. Depending on the season, there are between 300 and 350 colleagues on the floor at any one time. It didn’t feel like a
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