Injection molding: Engel expands in Germany

The year in progress is shaping up to be a banner one for Engel in Germany, its most important market, with record revenue expected there. As a result, the Austrian injection molding machine manufacturer is expanding, with new sales and service employees as well as an expanded footprint at the company's automation center in Hagen.

Engel's German subsidiary chalked up €123 million in revenue and orders worth €162 million during the 2010/2011 business year, numbers the company says indicate a rapid improvement from the 2007-2008 crisis years. For the financial year in progress (2011/2012) the company is predicting record revenue out of Germany s it rides the successful reemergence of that country's automotive industry. Engel is one of the few companies able to supply the large multi-component machines often sought by automotive systems suppliers. In a high-wage country such as Germany, efficient, economical processing cells are in demand," according to Ralf Christofori, director of the company's sales and service offices in Nuremberg.   

The company's success in Germany also can be traced to the international growth of many German plastics processing companies, with the purchasing decisions often made in the domestic market. One result: about 20% of Engel Germany's sales in the past few years have been for machines that German companies ordered for their subsidiaries in Eastern Europe.

As a result of the growth, the company recently hired two sales pros for its team in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, home to Mercedes and Porsche. The company this year also intends to expand by about 1000 square meters its automation center in Hagen, Germany, which opened in 2003. About 75% of the new space will be used for assembly of robots and other automation equipment. The company also plans to increase its workforce in the Hagen automation operation from 41 to 60, which will bring its total number of employees in Germany to 180.

Engel reckons that it leads Europe's injection molding machine manufacturers in sales of production cells that are ordered with both automation and molding machine, claiming a nearly 50% share of these sales, and in fact a 25% share of all robot sales for injection molding in Europe.