magazine top

* Degree of vertical integration in Germany to be adapted,

centralization of administrative functions

 

* Staff measures to affect around 350 jobs in Germany in the medium

term

 

* Investment of € 40 million in new Engineering and Technology

Center at Göppingen site

 

Göppingen, October 30, 2013 – The Schuler Group is streamlining its

corporate structures in Germany and continuing to drive its

internationalization. “We are following our customers to their foreign

markets and thus laying the foundation for us as a German company to

remain the global leader in metalforming technology after two record

years,” explained CEO Stefan Klebert on Wednesday following a

Supervisory Board meeting of Schuler AG in Göppingen, Germany. Schuler

aims to secure its success in major growth markets like China with more

local production, procurement and development. It was to this end that

the company greatly expanded capacities at its Chinese factory in Dalian

a few months ago.

 

Germany to remain Group’s main base

 

With around 75 percent of all Group employees, Germany will remain

Schuler’s most important location by far. However, the company aims to

streamline its manufacturing in Germany, while reducing its degree of

vertical integration and raising flexibility. The company’s

traditional foundry in Göppingen, which has been running at a loss for

several years, is to be closed after no potential buyer was prepared to

guarantee its continued existence. In Weingarten, Schuler will focus

manufacturing on its core competencies, and above all on its fast

growing service business. The Board of Management plans to make further

savings at other German sites, such as Waghäusel and Erfurt – the

latter is to become the sole production plant in Germany for large-scale

presses. Göppingen will be the center for presses with in-house

production launches. Schuler also expects to achieve synergies from the

centralization of administrative functions at its sites in Göppingen,

Weingarten and Erfurt.

 

New Engineering and Technology Center at Göppingen site

 

The Supervisory Board has given the go-ahead for the construction of a

new Engineering and Technology Center. The new complex in Göppingen

costing around € 40 million will provide about 750 modern workplaces

and is expected to be completed by 2016. “This is a clear sign that

Germany will remain our home base,” stressed Klebert.

 

Socially compatible staff measures

 

The planned changes will result in internal restructuring throughout

Germany and affect 350 jobs – 100 of which at the company’s foundry.

Schuler plans to avoid redundancies wherever possible. The company has

earmarked costs of approximately € 50 million for the corporate

restructuring process, of which around € 35 million are expected to be

incurred in the current short fiscal year 2013 (October to December

2013). The Board of Management anticipates annual cost savings in the

coming years of € 15 to € 20 million.

 

“Schuler has enjoyed exceptional growth in sales and earnings over the

past few years. The Board of Management and workforce realize, however,

that we have to adapt our structures to remain successful in future. And

it’s always better to make such changes when times are good,”

concluded CEO Klebert.

 

Flatter structures, leaner management

 

The planned changes in production and administration are part of a

corporate project entitled Growing Together 2.0, during which several of

the Group’s German facilities are to be merged. The aim is to simplify

the Group’s complex structures which have evolved over the years.

 

At the beginning of the current fiscal year, Schuler already made

significant personnel reductions at the Board of Management and

second-tier management levels.

 

Schuler will publish its preliminary figures for the fiscal year 2012/13

(ending September 30, 2013) on November 6, 2013.

Follow Us