In 2016, the WITTMANN Group saw another increase in sales compared to the previous year. With a 5% growth rate over 2015, WITTMANN continued its expansion, which has been unbroken since 2009.In 2016, the WITTMANN Group realized 377 million EUR in sales and thus fully achieved the goal it had set itself for last year. According to Michael Wittmann, Managing Director and CEO of WITTMANN Kunststoffgeräte GmbH, this 5% increase over 2015 is more than satisfactory after the record 19% growth figure of 2015. “An expansion in the order of almost 20% is, of course, an exception and not possible every year. We are proud that we could add yet another 5% in 2016 to that impressive rate“, says Wittmann. The group’s workforce has also increased again and currently stands at 2,165 employees worldwide. With an exceptionally high order intake in the second half of 2016 and at the beginning of 2017, the order books are already full well into the autumn of this year.
As a consequence of the group’s continuing growth, significant investments were made last year in corporate machinery and infrastructure too. For example, several new machining centers were installed in Kottingbrunn in addition to the completion of the new technical lab, and the mechanical production and sheet metal plants, warehouse facilities and product development testing area were remodeled as well. For this year, an extension of the production facility by some 2,200 m² is planned.
A very clear sign of the extremely lively demand for WITTMANN automation systems and robots is the expansion of the production area for robots still under way in Vienna. This will increase the total capacity at WITTMANN’s four robot production plants to 4,800 units per year, which are all urgently needed. Furthermore, investments in additional ultra-modern machining centers have been made over the last 12 months, which will lead to a capacity increase in the coming months. Once this construction work has been completed, an extension of the new Wolkersdorf production plant will be started, which was only opened in October 2015, and where bulk material technology products for material drying, loading and dosing are made. With the planned addition of 2,600 m², the total production floor space for this segment will be increased to 9,300 m².
The company’s global sales activities were also further strengthened in 2016. In response to the positive development of Slovakian business, a new subsidiary was established in Trenčin/Slovakia in September. Moreover, the WITTMANN Group decided to take over its agency in Korea and make it a part of its own sales and service network, following the positive development of the Korean market. The integration was completed in November of last year.
