in 1938 the firm re-entered the field of munitions production, establishing metallwarenfabrik spreewerk to undertake the fabrication of munitions components at the former berlin-spandau factory of the defunct deutsche waffen und munitionsfabriken. this was followed in 1939 by the establishment of a modern ammunition loading facility on a forty hectare site near the city of lübeck by the newly established maschinen für massenverpackung gmbh. early in 1940 the firm strengthened its role in the manufacture of industrial machinery through the acquisition of the berlin-anhaltische maschinenbau of dessau.