(Schwertberg, Austria) is projecting strength, increasing market share, and reinvesting in its business. In a conversation with PlasticsToday on March 17 prior to the opening of its new 7300-sq ft technical center in Corona, CA, Engel Holding CEO Peter Neumann and Engel North American CEO Stephan Braig pointed to the new facility as evidence of the company’s fiscal vigor and commitment to North America.

“We can see here now the problems with all machine manufacturers,” Neumann said, “we have really hard times, but even in this period, Engel is so strong that we want to invest in markets. The investment here should really be a signal to the market that Engel, even with the market shrinking dramatically in the U.S., believes it is an important market for the future.”

The executives said that balance-sheet strength and the launch of new technologies helped it expand market share last year from 23.8% to 27.1% in Europe and from around 10-12% to 24% in North America. In particular, Braig and Neumann said last June’s rollout of the all-electric e-max molding machine line had a significant impact on its North American business. Declining to comment on specific sales figures, the executives said the launch had met Engel’s expectations and put the company on a better footing to compete with Japanese counterparts that held sway in a machine segment that had come to dominate North American sales, particularly with the continued difficulties in automotive.

“If you look at the [Society of the Plastics Industry’s] numbers, two-thirds of all injection molding machines [delivered in North America] under 200 tons are all-electric now,” Braig said. “That’s really where the market is going and what the customers are expecting.”

Neumann also stressed that Engel’s willingness to invest should be taken as an indication of its business health and long-term viability, adding that a North American market that has shrunk from sales of 6000 machines/yr to 2200 cannot support the 25-plus injection molding machine suppliers that currently serve it.

“Customers will decide now for strong companies,” Neumann said, “because they can see out of this experience of the last few years that the weak companies—they are leaving the market or they’re having financial problems—so they don’t feel safe anymore. If you buy an injection molding machine, you buy a product that has a lifetime of 10-15 years, so you need long-term support.”

Neumann said he hopes that the North American market will claw back to annual sales of 3500 machines in the near future, but today, current sales levels have made for a difficult environment. “I’m sure it’s like the automotive industry right now,” Neumann said. “There is overcapacity in our industry and not all will survive,” adding that many molders will have to ask, “Is my existing supplier still the right one, or do I have to make a change?”

Asked if the current landscape had led Engel to consider acquiring a competitor, Neumann said “there are good chances for doing an acquisition” in such periods, but said Engel hadn’t undertaken any formal moves, stressing the company’s conservative fiscal nature and unwillingness to overburden its ledger in lean times for the sake of an acquisition. The closely held Austrian company does not release detailed financial statements, but for the 2007-2008 fiscal year, it reported a record, gross turnover of €622 million. —[email protected]