In a year that for many companies was a difficult one, Brückner Maschinenbau, based in Siegsdorf, Germany saw its business thrive.
In terms of incoming orders, the past fiscal year was the second most successful in the company's history, the company reported.
Brückner Maschinenbau closed the year with an order intake of almost €800 million, a significant increase over the €500 million recorded for the previous year. The company is therefore projecting sales of over €550 million for the year 2021, versus the €400 million achieved in 2020.
The results owe much to the heightened focus on hygiene and food safety in the packaging sector worldwide - and particularly in Asia - according to the company.
In addition, the growth in food retailing and online shopping increased demand for packaging, and by extension, for Brückner film stretching lines.
And the good news doesn’t stop there, noted Stefan Neumann, Brückner Maschinenbau’s CFO.
"Our order backlog extends well into 2023. In addition, we are currently pleased about two major orders from China."
The company has signed multiple five-year contracts with long-standing customer Jiangsu Hengli New Materials, a leading Chinese polyester film producer, representing an order volume that significantly exceeds the average annual volume of Brückner Maschinenbau. The complete package comprises dozens of BOPET lines for packaging films, optical and industrial films as well as ultra-thin specialty films and special BOPET thick film lines. The framework agreement covers a total of 15 different line types, including a very special laboratory line.
The second order was placed by Shenzhen Senior Technology Material Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of battery separator films, and was for another eight special Brückner lines.
The latter fits with the trends in the film market, the company said. While packaging continues to be boom, demand for technical films and film production lines are also on the rise. Potential future applications, next to battery separator films, include films for medical and high-temperature applications, solar panels or organic and printed electronics.
To ensure that the lines sold are also installed and commissioned on schedule all over the world, Brückner coordinates all trips as part of a special Corona crisis management system.“Traveling in these times demands a lot from our employees – keyword quarantine. We are therefore more than grateful that the willingness of our colleagues to travel abroad remains high – this is extremely appreciated by our customers,” said Helmut Huber, COO Sales & Project Management.
Next to the impressive growth in order intake for new lines, the company also saw a 60% increase in order intake for line upgrades by its service provider for film stretching technology, Brückner Servtec, also based in Siegsdorf. Among the more notable developments was the order placed by one major global customer, seeking to move towards a more sustainable production process, for a total of four production lines on three continents in the packaging film sector.
The impact on the company’s financial results for this year will be considerable: Brückner Servtec is forecasting record sales of around €71 million for 2021 (2020: €53 million).