Despite the coronavirus pandemic and the decline in plant and mechanical engineering, 2020 was a successful business year for Leuze
The year 2020 was characterized worldwide by the coronavirus pandemic as well as a recessive economy. Nevertheless, comparison with other industries and competitors shows that 2020 was an extremely successful business year for Leuze. And the company has really stepped on the gas since the beginning of 2021: Worldwide, the Leuze electronic Group is enjoying all time highs in terms of order volume and sales and, as a result, is experiencing above average growth.
New international Leuze distribution center in Unterlenningen near the company headquarters in Southern Germany
Leuze with clear growth targets
Managing director Ulrich Balbach is delighted with the high order volume and a sales growth that he has never seen in his 23 years at Leuze. And the company has managed this despite the health crisis, coronavirus lockdowns and the shortage of resources, especially in the semiconductor industry, and the scarcity of electronic components resulting in long delivery times. According to Balbach, this success is based on early, farsighted and also boldly countercyclical action. “You can only create transformation if you have a clear vision of the future and a concrete goal in sight. And this is exactly what Leuze has,” he says and goes on to explain: “The company aims to double its revenue by the end of 2025.” Leuze is well on its way to doing so and is repeating its success of the previous years. “A year ago we already regarded coronavirus as a health crisis rather than an economic crisis and took appropriate measures to prepare ourselves. Our alternating shift model allowed us to adapt flexibly to the given situation, we eased off when and where possible and permissible, and hit the ground running again as soon as orders began to pick up. And this is what happened in August 2020 and has remained so ever since. The next quarter is also set to see continued strong growth,” says Balbach with an optimistic outlook on the future.
Construction of a new Leuze production location in Malacca, Malaysia. Completion is planned by the end of 2021
Full order books and sales records worldwide
With a 20% increase in sales worldwide, Leuze is currently enjoying a veritable growth boom. At present, business is doing particularly well in Asia, but also in the Americas, followed by Europe. “In China in particular, sales have grown by 60% compared to the previous year,” says Balbach. “There, electromobility in the automotive industry is currently a driving factor. As is photovoltaics. But the laboratory automation and intralogistics industries, which Leuze focuses on, are also doing extremely well,” he explains. Leuze has continued to invest in new structures all over the world: The new international distribution center in Unterlenningen located not far from the company headquarters in Southern Germany and opened in July 2020 has resulted in a doubling of logistics capacity. It allows Leuze to successfully deal with the increased volume and backlog of orders. In Malacca, Malaysia, Leuze is building a new production location along the New Silk Road in order to meet the needs of its Asian customers even better and to further reduce delivery times. Completion is planned for the end of 2021. The company is hiring new employees all over the world. “The best employees are our most important capital. Only then are we able to jointly meet the challenges presented by future growth,” explains Balbach.
