Five Straight Years of Record Returns for Engel and a Doubling of Production Space for Wintec in China

Christoph Steger, chief of sales at Engel, used his company’s pre-show press conference at the Chinaplas 2019 Media Day event arranged by show organizer Adsale Exhibitions Ltd. to note that the company’s most recent fiscal year, which finished in March 2019, marked an all-time high for the Schwertberg headquartered firm, with turnover of Euro 1.6 billion. That is the fifth straight year that Engel has notched a new record in annual sales, with an average annual growth rate of 10.5%/yr going back to 2008 immediately prior to the economic crash.

For the year, the bulk of the sales came from Europe (54%), followed by the Americas (24%) and Asia (21%). The company now employs 6900 globally, with staffing growing an average of 6.5%/year over the last decade.

Gero Wilmeroth, who heads Engel’s operations in Asia said that 90% of the company’s sales in the region were derived from locally produced equipment, with a total turnover of Euro 336 million and 960 employees. Average annual growth in Asia going back to 2008 is 13.7%, with sales in 2019 forecast to be slightly higher to flat.

Michael Feltes, president sales and service of Engel Machinery in Changzhou, where the Wintec line is manufactured, said strong growth in that product has prompted to the company to invest Euro 12 million in an expansion that will more than double production space. That is phase two in a three-phase plan, with construction beginning at the end of 2018. Created five years ago, Wintec initially targeted Asia, before moving into the Middle East, Africa and Tukey in 2016. Last year, sales expanded into the Americas. To date, 71% of sales have been for China, with the remainder exported. In terms of end market, 68% of machines have been sold into automotive, with white goods—24%—being the next biggest sector.