Engel Targets Faster Order Turnaround in Smaller Tonnage Presses

During the company’s January 13 Technology Symposium at its Corona, Calif. technical center, Markus Lettau, regional sales manager, reviewed the program which began at the end of 2015. “Many times when molders need a machine, they need it fast,” Lettau said. “[Engel] is very good at highly specialized machines, but that’s not all we do.”

Contacted by Plastics Technology, an Engel spokesperson called Fast Lane, which specifically targets the North American market, a “shift” for the company. “The small machine market represents a large percentage of the machines sold in North America,” the spokesperson said, “and with the robust economy in manufacturing and the high demand for machines, Engel has developed a strong plan to respond without sacrificing the quality and reliability we are known for.”

In advance of launching the program, Engel researched the most common machine sizes and options purchased in the North American market, with the company now maintaining ready inventory of those machines between its York, Penn. headquarters and the Corona operation. The program specifically applies to Engel’s tiebarless victory hy-spex and all-electric e-mac machines for clamping forces ranging from 55 to 340 and 55 to 195 tons, respectively.

The spokesperson noted that Engel has enough flexibility in its operations to rapidly change screw and barrel sizes and add defined options and then ship machines directly without an interim stay at an external warehouse. In addition, on-site software, electrical and mechanical engineering make it possible for Engel’s engineering department to physically view the exact machine being ordered by the specific customer, according to the spokesperson.

Engel provided the timeline from a recent sale to illustrate the speed of the Fast Lane program. After same day turnaround of a request for quote on a press, Engel received a machine order on December 2, with down payment arriving on December 8. Less than 48 hours later, on December 10, the machine shipped.

The company reviewed its results at the symposium, noting that it achieved 2015 turnover of Euro 1.07 billion ($1.19 billion) with 4800 employees globally. The Americas represent the company’s second largest market, accounting for 22% of turnover, behind Europe (58%) and ahead of Asia (17%). Engel has grown on average 10%/year since its 2008 fiscal year, and it is projecting continued growth of 5% annually through fiscal year 2017-2018.