Sumitomo (SHI) Demag reports “most successful year” yet in 2015

Injection moulding machinery manufacturer, Sumitomo Demag, has reported the most successful year in the company’s corporate history with an 11 percent year-on-year rise in sales to EUR 234 million (approx. £185 million GBP).

The company attributes the success to strategic changes it initiated in April 2015, including a focus on core competencies, the pooling of its two German production sites into one production centre and a capacity expansion at Demag Plastics Machinery in Ningbo/China.

“In 2015, we took a new – and successful – approach to our sales and customer-service strategy. In future, we will strive to consolidate and sustain this success,” commented Gerd Liebig, CSO Sumitomo (SHI) Demag.

“A strong sales and customer service department is the cornerstone for our company’s consistent customer and market orientation and the driving force for a successful future.”

The company has recently opened new subsidiaries in Hungary and Austria, as well as expanding and consolidating sales structures in Israel, Saudi Arabia and Iran. It has also rebranded its after sales department to reflect international customer service.

“We can be proud of our achievements in 2015. Our shares in target markets, such as automotive and E+E, have increased significantly, as have our shares in the market for all-electric injection moulding machines,” commented Dr. Tetsuya Okamura, CEO Sumitomo (SHI) Demag

“The demand, particularly in the market segments relevant to complex all-electric machines such as packaging, has risen sharply. In 2016, we will to continue our efforts to consolidate our market position and be successful. The excellent results in 2015, which vastly exceeded our expectations, provides us with the strength for new strategic investments.”

Modernising its machine range, Sumitomo (SHI) Demag has recently made an investment in the double-digit million range.

It says an expansion of industry-oriented sales efforts and establishing additional sales outlets are next on the agenda.

“We have intensified our efforts to consolidate and expand our production portfolio in 2016. This year will be dominated by the K trade fair, where our company will present an abundance of innovative products with a strong focus on our target segments. Among these will be new machines with a clear focus on higher output rates for injection moulders as well as advanced functions and integration options for existing machine ranges,” Andreas Schramm, CTO Sumitomo (SHI) Demag, explained.

“In these times of economic challenges, we are also focusing on flexible production options. Last year, we embarked on the strategic realignment of our two German production sites with the clear objective of honing our competitive edge. In this endeavour, we benefitted from the expertise of our Japanese colleagues, who helped us to establish efficient production concepts based on lean management methods.”

The Sumitomo Management Board says it expects additional growth in segments such as packaging, automotive and medical engineering.