Despite the continuing challenges presented by the corona pandemic, 2021 was a successful year for the company: The MULTIVAC Group increased its turnover by approx. 15 percent to 1.37 billion euros. “In addition to the contribution made by our packaging solutions, our latest investments in the food processing sector have also contributed significantly to this business success. In our bakery machinery business for example, FRITSCH was able to increase its order intake in 2021 by 40 percent compared to the previous year,” explained Christian Traumann.
Agenda 2025
“2 billion turnover. Global. Digital and sustainable.” This summarises the strategic objectives, which the Group is pursuing in the period up to 2025. “We already have as a company the best conditions for achieving these objectives,” asserted Christian Traumann. “We offer the products, which our customers worldwide need. Today we are already very active in many markets. We are well established for further growth. And last but not least, we have the complete support of our owners,” said Christian Traumann. In order to achieve these ambitious growth targets, the company is not only investing systematically in the development of new products, but also in new manufacturing equipment and production sites: another example of this was the opening in 2021 of the new Training & Application Center for slicers and automation solutions at the company's headquarters in Wolfertschwenden. A further expansion here of the production capacity is also in the planning stage, as well as a new Logistics Center for spare parts. And MULTIVAC also continues to grow internationally: the latest additions include a new factory in Japan, a new production site in India, and the expansion of the existing production facility in Bulgaria. FRITSCH is currently planning the construction of a new production site in Lower Franconia. In addition to the "World of Bakery" Training & Application Center in Kitzingen, a further Customer Center has also been opened in Canada. Other such facilities are planned for Australia, South America and Asia.
Global reach
With more than 6,800 employees, 13 production sites and 83 sales and service companies, MULTIVAC is today a global player with a worldwide presence. “We see Asia and the Sub-Saharan region of Africa in particular as growing markets with great potential for geographical growth in future,” explained Christian Traumann.
Digitalisation
In addition to the digitalisation of processes within the MULTIVAC Group, the development of digital products and services for customers continues to be driven forward. “One example that I would like to highlight is myMULTIVAC. Our central Customer Platform offers a wide spectrum of different uses, ranging from spare parts orders, order history and dispatch tracking, through to online access to machine data, documents and 3D catalogues, and right up to our digital Smart Services.”
Sustainability as a responsibility
“Sustainability is an important part of MULTIVAC's company strategy, and we see this as one of our central tasks and responsibilities, since as a business model it secures the long-term success of our company. Sustainability is for us an issue that cuts across all aspects of our business. With our technology and solutions we are promoting sustainable development worldwide, while also acting responsibly as a company to save resources and energy, so that we can rely on sustainable production by using innovative technology and increasing our own efficiency. As the technology leader in the sector, this will enable us to meet not only our corporate responsibilities but also our social obligations,” said Christian Traumann in summary.
Innovation strategy for growth
Guido Spix then presented the innovation strategy for future growth: “Our focus for the future will be primarily the amalgamation of machine manufacture and digitalisation, as well as the continuing expansion of our expertise in complete lines.”
Among the current product innovations, which are being shown to the public for the first time at the trade fair, is the new W 500 flowpacker. “The flowpacking solution enables us to further expand our product range with a new technology. This solution is particularly suitable for quick product changes, and one of its many features is its cost-effectiveness at high output,” said Guido Spix.
When it comes to automatic pack labelling, MULTIVAC is launching onto the market its new L 312 conveyor belt labeller, which now enables attractive full wrap labelling to be used for random weight products as well.
Among the other product innovations is a highly flexible portioning line for retail packs. This inline solution includes a traysealer in the medium-output category.
“The new and compact GMS 400 portioning machine was specially developed for the entry-level sector, and it ensures that the best portioning quality and optimum yield are achieved for the product,” stated Guido Spix. “And with the compact and fully automatic T 305, we are launching a new traysealer, which is characterised by its high level of performance, pack quality and flexibility.”
Decentralised organisation and digitalisation
In order to facilitate further growth, MULTIVAC is placing the emphasis on international production, as Guido Spix explained: “Our decentralised production network contributes significantly to being able to serve the individual markets even better, since we can then focus on the particular regional requirements in a very targeted way.”
The digitalisation of the company's machine solutions also plays an important role in customers' new development projects. “Machines and lines are becoming ever more complex in the era of Industry 4.0. For many businesses it is therefore a major challenge to keep their equipment operating reliably and efficiently. Our digital MULTIVAC Smart Services can therefore make a major contribution here, as well as contributing significantly to improved productivity.”
