DUESSELDORF, Germany—Having moved 25 miles to an expanded new facility in Austria, Maplan is planning to grow sales of its rubber molding machines in both North America and Asia—the latter through the establishment of a new production facility.
The relocation, from its long-time base of Ternitz to the Euro12 million facility in Kottingbrunn, Austria, has enabled the Austrian company to introduce more efficient machine-building production—and doubled its machine manufacturing capacity in the process.
The new facility will enable Maplan to reduce assembly times by 30 percent, while also improving quality and consistency, according to Wolfgang Meyer, managing director. This, he noted, also has benefited the cost structure.
Maplan's sales in 2015 reached Euro 45 million, a record for the company, which has also seen its work force grow from 140 to 220 employees over the last five years.
Around 40 percent of business is currently in Europe, 30 percent in the U.S., with the rest in other locations around the world. The long-term goal, though is a market share profile of about third in each of the three main global regions.
And with the relocation now complete, an important target for Maplan is to grow in North America, Meyer said, “In my opinion the U.S. business can grow quite massively.”