Wittman Group reports continued growth in fiscal year 2018, anticipates slowdown
May 8, 2019
Injection moulding machine producer Wittmann Group, headquartered in Kottingbrunn, Austria, reports that it achieved increased sales figures in 2018 compared to the previous year, thus continuing its trend of year-on-year growth. However, the company also noted that since the end of 2018, it has seen a slowdown in orders.
In 2018, the group achieved sales of €425 million, representing an increase of just under 6% in turnover compared to the previous year. Highlights of the fiscal year 2018 for the company included the completion of extensive building projects, adding 2,200 m² to its overall production area. New administrative facilities were also built, which significantly expanded the available office space. Also constructed was a new R&D lab. On the production floor, the company completed installation of assembly lines for its EcoPower and SmartPower from 1,800 kN upwards.
In addition to the extensions in Kottingbrunn, Wittmann’s facilities in Nuremburg, the Czech Republic, Mexico and Italy were also expanded. The construction of a new, larger building in France, which was started in 2018, has also now been completed. The company moved into its new facilities at the end of April this year.
The extensive activities of the Wittmann Group relating to Industry 4.0 were supplemented in September 2018 with its acquisition of a stake in the Italian Manufacturing Execution System (MES) producer ICE-flex. As a result, the group’s ‘Wittmann 4.0’ technologies can now be integrated more smoothly into the TEMI+ MES programme.
Fiscal year 2019 began for the group with an order income on a par with 2016. Michael Wittmann, CEO, commented, “Innumerable political and economic uncertainties and discussions are now finally having a lasting effect on the investment behaviour in our industry, slowing it down. We were fully aware of the fact that the incredible succession of record results over the last ten years would eventually come to an end. The slowdown has now just started in the last quarter of 2018. We expect that the year 2019 will continue on the current level.”
