Maxon turns over CHF 500 million

For the first time in the company's history, the Maxon Group increased its turnover to over half a billion Swiss francs. In the past financial year, the Group recorded growth of 14.7 percent from 459 million to 526.3 million Swiss francs. The number of employees also increased to around 3,000. "In 2019, we will continue to invest heavily in research and development, drive forward digitalization and further develop our global organizational structure," says Group CEO Eugen Elmiger. Due to the uncertain economic development, those responsible expect moderate growth of 2 to 3 percent.

Global growth

The Swiss drive specialist's largest sales market continues to be Germany, followed by Switzerland. According to the company, every sales company in the EMEA region achieved a new sales record. The USA also achieved its highest sales result to date. In China, sales have doubled within five years. Medical technology remains Maxon's most important market, accounting for around 42 percent of sales, followed by industrial automation and robotics (27 percent), measurement and testing technology (7 percent), the automotive industry (5.3 percent) and aerospace (5 percent).

Investments in locations and R&D

Main shareholder Karl-Walter Braun sees the success in investments in research and development as well as in the global locations, among other things. "Every tenth employee works in research and development. In addition to the headquarters in Sachseln, development work is carried out at six other local sites: In Germany, France and the Netherlands, as well as in Korea, China and the USA." The existing production sites in Sachseln, Sexau, Veszprém and Cheonan have been joined by Taunton near Boston/USA, where the first production lines for motors and gearheads have been set up. This means that maxon is now represented in all important global markets. "Thanks to worldwide production and stable sales organizations, we can respond quickly to customer requests directly on site and gather valuable information about new requirements and trends," Braun continues.

The company also works with various universities. In collaboration with state institutions and the Swiss embassy in South Korea, the company has introduced a company apprenticeship scheme, as well as in the new factory in the USA. "We have also set up our own lab at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. We are working on various topics there, such as an e-bike test bench that is one of the best in Switzerland," explains Eugen Elmiger, CEO of the Maxon Group.

The company has also opened an Innovation Lab in the EPFL Innovation Park in Lausanne, where students and researchers work on developments, found start-ups or familiarize themselves with drive technology. In addition, the company has been working closely with ETH Zurich on various research projects for many years. The company not only invests in future employees, but also uses these collaborations to develop products and enter new markets. Elmiger on the efforts: "Among other things, we are currently working on very efficient drone drive systems. At the same time, we are making inroads into the e-mobility market by building up expertise in system integration and battery management systems." The Mars mission will also be continued. In recent months, Maxon engineers have developed several special drives for the NASA and ESA rover missions to Mars next year.

New brand strategy

Since July 1, the group of companies previously known as Maxon Motor has only been operating under the name Maxon. This move is driven by the new strategy: the company is transforming itself from a motor and component manufacturer into a specialist for precision drive systems with a focus on five core markets. These are: Medical Technology, Aerospace, Industrial Automation, Transportation and E-Mobility & Robotics. On the other hand, Maxon is adapting its corporate structure and positioning itself as a strong group with a global presence that nevertheless responds to local needs. According to the company, the new name and the visual adaptation are intended to underline this change.