The Upper Austrian mechanical engineer Engel based in Schwertberg, achieved sales of 1.6 (2022/23: 1.7) billion euros in the 2023/24 financial year (end of March). That is a decrease of around six percent compared to the previous year. “According to various association figures, the volume in the injection molding machine market has fallen by up to 40 percent,” said managing director Stefan Engleder in a press release on Sunday evening: The OÖN already reported on this development in January.
But it was possible to gain share in a shrinking market, says Engleder. The areas of medicine and packaging in the Americas and Europe made a significant contribution to this.
The high order backlog has almost been processed and a sustainable economic recovery is not in sight. Already at the end of January Engel announced plans to cut 35 jobs at the large-scale machinery plant in St. Valentin in Lower Austria. “We are hoping for initial growth impulses from the spring trade fairs Chinaplas in Shanghai and NPE in Orlando,” hopes Engleder. The company is countering the mixed prospects for the beginning of the financial year with an expansion of its global presence and, according to the company, “record incoming orders” for customer-specific automation solutions.
Expansion of the global network
The aim is to invest a high double-digit million amount in the expansion of the global network in the new financial year. In the regions of Europe, America and Asia, the company relies on largely independent hub structures; where necessary and sensible, global standards are set in collaboration with the headquarters in Austria. Engleder sees great added value in implementing local solutions with local development and manufacturing skills.
While the standard segment is weakening, individual automation solutions are experiencing a significant upswing, it said, fueled by a shortage of skilled workers and high production costs. Depending on the customer’s wishes, the required automation merges with the machine to form a high-performance injection molding cell.
It’s important to stick with it Engel the internationally distinctive apprentice training with 240 apprentices in Austria and over 400 worldwide. Along with Austria, China and the Czech Republic are the largest training centers in the global network. The Engel At the end of January 2024, the group employed 7,400 people worldwide, 3,800 of them in Austria (2,260 in Schwertberg, 270 in Dietach and 1,270 in St. Valentin).
