Engel continues with strategy of simplicity following year of growth

Engel says in order to compete in the current injection moulding machinery climate it is following a “simplicity-based strategy.”

This, the company said at the Fakuma trade fair, meand that it will make its machines and systems as user-friendly as possible, whilst ensuring that the simple and safe control of ever more complex production processes and integrated operations.

It believes this stragey will keep the company competitive and continue to drive success, following the growth it has enjoyed in 2018.

During an address to press and media, Engel said that it expected to experience “further moderate growth” for the current fiscal year, despite the strong growth seen in recent years shifting to a sideways movement globally.

Specifically, at the end of March 2019, Engel is expecting a group turnover of around 1.6 billion euros, which would represent a six per cent increase over the previous year.

In the latest revenue breakdown, Europe represents the lion’s share of sales with 53 per cent, while America currently amounts to 24 per cent and Asia to 22 per cent.

“The revenue growth in Asia is by far the biggest in the ENGEL Group,” commented Dr. Christoph Steger, CSO of Engel Holding, at Fakuma. “And Asia is continuing to develop very dynamically.”

Steger said the latest developments in North America are “not as encouraging”. Following several years of strong growth, he said the region is below last year’s level, as of the end of fiscal year 2018/19’s second quarter.

The slowdown, says Engel, is primarily due to the large international conglomerates, which are taking a wait-and-see approach in the wake of the latest developments in economic policy. Smaller, local enterprises are still on an investment path.

The company said that trade disputes are making it difficult to give forecasts, especially given that they could impinge upon European exports.

No downturn in EU exports

Steiger added that, to date, there has been no sign of a downturn in European exports.

Alongside Asia, Engel reported further growth in the German-speaking nations of Europe, also known as the DACH countries (“D” for Germany, “A” for Austria and “CH” for Switzerland). “We are currently above where we were one year ago in terms of incoming orders in the DACH region,” Steger explained.

Germany remains the market with the highest turnover, with Engel increasing its sales in the country by 50 per cent over the past five years.