YORK, PA. -- Engel North America reported more than $200 million in sales when the privately held company closed the books on fiscal year 2012 at the end of March.
Sales were at a record high, according to the York, Pa.-based injection molding machine maker, a division of Austria's Engel Holding GmbH, marking a massive turnaround from the global recession just a few years ago, when sales dipped to $59.5 million in fiscal 2010.
"We are very fortunate that the markets turned around for us," said Mark Sankovitch, president of Engel Machinery Inc.,
He attributed a big part of the 236 percent sales bump over the last two years to the recovery of the U.S. automobile industry, a major link in the overall plastics industry supply chain.
"Auto is a big driver for all of us and when that market goes down, so do we. But we all reap the rewards when it comes back, too," he said.
As the automotive market rebounds, companies are looking to replace aging injection molding machines and add equipment with an eye toward performance, automation and energy efficiency, all of which are focuses for the Engel product line.
Engel's medical and packaging business units also saw increases, Sankovitch said. The medical market is seeing demand for higher cavity molding and faster cycle times as part of its overall market growth. As the U.S. housing market also rebounds, Engel executives expect to see a steady increase in demand for products in its technical molding business unit.
Amid the enthusiasm, Sankovitch said it is important to maintain some overall business perspective. While more than 200 percent growth in a few years sounds impressive, that includes recovering from recession losses.
"If you throw out fiscal 2009, we are, right now, where we should be," he said. "It's not 200 percent growth every three years. No company could sustain that kind growth anyway. We're a fourth-generation family-owned company, we're running a marathon and not a sprint."