| 2013-02-22 |  |
Tweet |
Horsch Maschinen GmbH announced a record 226 million Euro turnover for 2012, an increase of 33% compared to the year before.
A turnover of 23 million Euro in 2002 means this is an increase of
1000% within 10 years. No other manufacturer of agricultural
machinery
has shown such growth. Horsch is facing 2013 with a lot of optimism
and is planning a medium-term turnover increase to approximately
250 million Euro.
Horsch Ronneburg Production Site
Strong key markets
Strong key markets (Germany, France, Poland, Czech Republic, United
Kingdom and Denmark) and the resurgent markets of Russia and Ukraine,
as well as a high turnover increase in the Eastern European States,
contributed to this enormous turnover boost. Horsch is also pleased
to be operating strongly across diverse markets, which provides greater
sales resilience.
Strong Leeb sales in the plant protection sector increased its turnover share to 5%. Excellent performance by our sales partners contributed to this exceptional high growth.
In 2012, business in the US developed positively too. Horsch North America and Horsch Anderson were able to gain market shares and to extend the range of products. Especially the Joker compact disc harrow and the Maestro single grain seed drill, which are proving very popular with the customers. Single grain technology is also one of the most requested for products in South Africa, another market that is developing well.
Horsch’s top performers - Pronto, Terrano, Joker and Tiger - are being supported by strong sales of the sprayers and Maestro drill, which has been awarded the prize Machine of the year 2012.
New jobs
But all these records would not be possible without new employees.
The company slogan “Farming with Passion” is an attitude to life that
encompasses all employees at home and abroad. Employee numbers have
risen again by 200 to about 950 people, with a 100 new jobs to be created
in 2013. In addition, Horsch invests heavily in the training and development
of new colleagues.
Extension of the production facilities
This large sales increase has also resulted in the extension of the
production facilities. At the company headquarters in Schwandorf,
the Agricultural Centre of Innovation was built – a completely new
building with state-of-the-art equipment for the research, development
and design department. It is located at the boundary of the Horsch
premises adjacent to the test areas for testing prototypes directly
in the field. The ACI includes a 2000m² test hall and an office building
for about 100 employees. The investment amounted to 6 million Euro.
The plant protection site in Landau has also been extended. A new hall for the service, maintenance and quality control departments has been built.
At the production site in Ronneburg, the area of the steel-processing will be nearly doubled. A new 3400m² steel storage facility and 5300 m² production area is being built for the pre-cut department, laser plants and state-of-the-art welding robots. A further 4500m² assembly lines are being built and in the paint shop an additional powder spray coating facility is being installed. The new shipping centre at Ronneburg and 400-machine parking area are nearly completed.
Total investment for the expansion plans will amount to about 20 million Euro, the largest investment sum so far for Horsch projects.
Milestone of Agricultural
Machinery
Horsch is delighted that this year it has been elected “Milestone of
Agricultural Machinery” by the publishing company DLV. Horsch is committed
to “Farming without a plough“ and has contributed significantly to the
fact that 40% of all arable land is now cultivated without a plough
(source: Federal Statistical Office), rising to 60% for just wheat production
areas. 20 years ago, no-one even dared to believe in this cultivation
system making it a worthy milestone.
