A successful and at the same time very challenging 2021 financial year lies behind Beckhoff Automation. For the first time in its almost 42-year history, the automation technology specialist from Verl exceeded the one billion euro mark in sales. With a total global result of 1.182 billion euros, the company increased its turnover by around 28 percent compared to the previous year 2020.

"This is a really good result that we are very proud of," says managing owner Hans Beckhoff. His company registered an unprecedented level of incoming orders: "We could certainly have grown even further last year, but the shortage of components and our own capacities set limits in some areas," says Hans Beckhoff, explaining the tense situation in many areas of the industry.

Very good economic developments everywhere

For the German market, Beckhoff achieved an increase in sales of around 27 percent, while incoming orders more than doubled. The company also recorded similar trends in many other countries in which it sells its products. "With one or two exceptions, we saw significant growth in almost all countries with their own sales offices in 2021 - often in the double-digit percentage range," summarizes the managing owner. He explains: "Our two largest subsidiaries in China and the USA also saw strong double-digit growth." As in Germany, incoming orders abroad were usually significantly higher than actual sales growth.

Automation technology is currently experiencing a real boom all over the world and across all industries. However, demand is exceeding suppliers' production capacities, which are also being weakened by the global pandemic. For Beckhoff, this is particularly evident in the shortage of semiconductors and the lack of other electronic components. "This bottleneck is likely to continue beyond 2022," predicts Hans Beckhoff, adding: "Nevertheless, we must prepare for better raw material availability in order to be able to fulfill customer orders as quickly as possible. For this reason, we are working intensively on expanding and optimizing our entire company - from administration to development and production."

Expansion at the Verl headquarters

The rapid and dynamic growth of the company presents the technology company with major challenges. Production capacities have already been expanded and personnel resources increased. By the middle of the year, Beckhoff will expand its production capacities in Verl and the surrounding area by over 50 percent compared to the beginning of 2020.

"To this end, we are activating our last remaining space reserves and acquiring additional areas," reports Hans Beckhoff. Beckhoff recently acquired a 15-hectare site in the immediate vicinity of existing properties in a newly planned inter-municipal industrial park between the towns of Rietberg and Verl. "An industrial park is to be created here, which will offer both Beckhoff Automation and our wholly owned subsidiaries Smyczek and Schirmer, which are also growing dynamically with us, space for further expansion in the future. Over the next ten years, at least an additional 1,000 jobs will be created here," continues Hans Beckhoff.

Expansion also outside Verl

At the same time as the expansion in Verl, Beckhoff is expanding nationally and internationally. The company has its own subsidiaries in 40 countries. This close-knit network to support Beckhoff customers is constantly being expanded. In Balingen, Baden-Württemberg, a new building is currently being constructed for the local sales office. A completely energy self-sufficient building is being built here, which will be occupied at the beginning of 2023. In Marktheidenfeld in Lower Franconia, the motor production facility of the subsidiary Fertig Motors located there is being expanded.

The automation technology specialist also opened an office in Kaunas, Lithuania, in the 2021 financial year to serve the local market. The subsidiary Beckhoff Austria is building a new headquarters in Bürs. At the same time, Beckhoff Sweden is building a new headquarters and the first production facility outside Germany is to be built near Shanghai in China. The main reason for this is to be able to better serve the Chinese market, which is one of Beckhoff Automation's strongest in terms of sales with a share of more than 22%, from within the country.

Number of employees continues to grow

In the past financial year, Beckhoff hired more than 500 new employees worldwide. As of March 2022, the family-owned company now employs 5,000 people (previous year: 4,500): 3,400 of them in Verl and the surrounding area, 3,850 in Germany as a whole and 1,450 abroad. "Having the expertise in-house is an important success factor for us. Beckhoff manufactures complex high-tech products that are developed by many bright minds working together in our company," says Hans Beckhoff, explaining the comparatively high number of 1,900 engineers currently working for the company.