Engel Holding GmbH, the Austria-based machinery maker, has said it saw total sales of 1.25 billion euros ($1.4 billion), a rise of around 25 percent in the 2015–2016 financial year.
As a result, in the 2016–2017 financial year, the firm has pledged almost 100 million euros ($113.5 million) in the further expansion of facilities and capacities.
"In the 2015–2016 financial year, we were able to consolidate our excellent market position in Europe and have expanded our market shares in Asia and America even further," said Christoph Steger, chief sales officer of Engel Holding.
"The European markets, in particular Germany, are still the motors for innovation," he added. "And even in America and Asia we are delivering more and more tailor-made solutions for sophisticated applications which include not just the injection molding machine, but also automation, process technology or mold technology."
In Europe, Engel said it has continued to significantly expand its share in the packaging sector, with strong growth in beverage caps.
The Engel Deutschland Technologieforum Stuttgart — the newest of the four German subsidiaries — has more than doubled its personnel numbers since opening in April 2013.
Construction work on a significant expansion of the company headquarters in Schwertberg has been underway since the summer of last year. In addition, work has begun at Engel's large-size machine plant in St. Valentin, Austria.
The firm expects two warehouses will be completed by late summer 2016, with work starting on an additional production hall in the autumn.
Meanwhile in Engel's Shanghai office, both the production facility and the office wing will be significantly expanded by April 2017.
Engel, which has two factories in China and a third in South Korea, said at Chinaplas 2016 it was spending $9 million to expand in Shanghai.
Asia accounts for almost 25 percent of Engel's global sales. It said China is its largest market in Asia.
That would put Asia in the range of $300 million a year in sales, compared with about $130 million in 2012, when the company doubled capacity at its Shanghai and South Korean factories.
Since 2014, Engel has been providing vocational training in Shanghai. At present, more than 30 apprentices are receiving training as CNC and plastics technicians, and in the coming school year, the firm will also be accepting mechatronics trainees in Shanghai.
In all, more than 5,200 staff members were employed worldwide by the firm at the close of the 2015–2016 financial year.
