Sumitomo Demag reports record sales year in 2015

Injection molding machine maker Sumitomo (SHI) Demag Plastics Machinery GmbH had a record sales year in 2015, with sales of 234 million euros (US$265 million) – an increase of 11 per cent over 2014.

In a statement, Sumitomo (SHI) Demag attributed the results to “strategic changes initiated in April 2015, i.e. the focus on core competencies, the pooling of the two German production sites into one production centre, and the capacity expansion at Demag Plastics Machinery in Ningbo/China.”

The company’s two German production sites are in Schwaig and Wiehe.

“In 2015, we took a new – and successful – approach to our sales and customer-service strategy,” said Gerd Liebig, the company’s chief sales officer. “In future, we will strive to consolidate and sustain this success.”

Sumitomo (SHI) Demag recently established new subsidiaries in Hungary and Austria, and also expanded and consolidated its sales structures in Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. The company cited all of these as contributing factors to its record sales year. “These measures were aimed at improving the quality of sales consultancy and speeding up the service department’s solution management,” the statement said. “First results have been very encouraging and promising.”

CEO Tetsuya Okamura said the company has recently made an investment in the double-digit range, and plans to create additional sales outlets going forward.

Okamura said the year-end numbers for 2015 “vastly exceeded our expectations.”

Finally, the Sumitomo (SHI) Demag management board expects additional growth in segments such as packaging, automotive, and medical engineering.

Sumitomo (SHI) Demag is comprised of four facilities in Japan, Germany, and China with more than 3,000 employees. The product portfolio includes all-electric, hydraulic and hybrid injection molding machines.