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EISENBACH, Germany. For the first time in its history, the Franz Morat Group passed the sales threshold of 100 million euros. At around 107 million euros, the sales figure is about 10% higher than that of the previous year. This greatly surpasses the goal of reaching 100 million euros in sales in 2022, which was set 10 years ago as part of the Target 100 corporate strategy. At the company meeting in the Wolfwinkelhalle event center in Eisenbach, Managing Director Gökhan Balkis covers new targets and plans as well as the political and economic challenges projected for the coming years.
“We currently find ourselves in a curious situation,” says Balkis. “On the one hand, we can celebrate great performance and another year of record sales, and for this I would like to specifically thank the entire workforce. On the other hand, we are facing an impending recession as a result of the terrible, relentless war in Ukraine,” the Managing Director of the Franz Morat Group continues. According to Balkis, the cost structure underwent considerable and continuous changes over the past twelve months due to the volatility of prices, interest rates and the markets. In addition to supply chain interruptions and resource bottlenecks, the gear and drive expert from Eisenbach, Germany, is facing price developments in materials, shipping, energy and wages that are seeing both massive fluctuations and marked increases at the same time.
Despite the warning signs, Franz Morat Group is projecting sales growth of over 10% for 2023 as well. According to the new FMG Drive 150 corporate strategy, a sales target of 150 million euros is in the sights for 2026. “The targets sound ambitious given the current conditions, yet we have laid the foundation for our continued growth over the previous years and have been working on numerous promising projects,” explains Balkis. In support of this, the company will continue expanding its presence in booming industries such as environmental and power engineering and intralogistics. Balkis goes on to explain that new customers and markets will be tapped into through innovative products and technologies, including wheel hub drives and the energy-efficient, space-optimized speeroX gear. Balkis also cites the continuous positive development of the international locations as a reason for this cautious optimism. The growth strategy includes targeted augmentation of personnel numbers in the sales and service companies in the US and Turkey. Expansions as well as increases to personnel capacities are planned for the production locations in Poland and Mexico.
In support of the growth of the Eisenbach headquarters, the new Plant 3 with its own training center moved into a site of around 3,000 m² over the summer, which Balkis states is a special milestone in the year coming to a close. In December, five machines for the Plastic Injection Molding Technology business unit were installed in the newly freed floorspace in Plant 1. These were moved back to Eisenbach from the VS-Pfaffenweiler production hall that has been leased since 2014. “With this move, we have now centralized all production in Germany back in Eisenbach. This enables more flexible workforce planning and reduces logistics expenditure and transport risks,” says Balkis. The lease agreement in Pfaffenweiler will in end the first quarter of 2023. A three-story connecting building is currently being built between Plants 1 and 2 to improve efficiency of the flow of goods at the headquarters in Eisenbach. Completion and commissioning are projected for the second quarter of 2023.
As already announced, construction of the company’s own solar park on the south side of company property along Franz-Morat Street has also been scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2023. “We will begin construction as soon as the snow has melted. We can then connect it to the power grid just one or two months later,” Balkis shares. With a total surface area of nearly 9,000 m², Balkis says the solar park will cover around 10% of the Group’s energy demand at the Eisenbach location, thus making an important contribution to sustainability and an efficient energy supply.
The team’s headcount was fortified over the past year in order to be ready for the challenges ahead. The Franz Morat Group employs a total of around 670 personnel, 560 of which work at headquarters.
After a two-year hiatus due to the Corona pandemic, the traditional end-of-year work anniversary celebration as well as the company meeting followed by a Christmas market were once again able to be held in person. Work anniversary honorees Andreas Liebrecht, Hamida Rahnuma, Gerold Siebler and Matthias Winterhalder were acknowledged for 20 years of company service. Daniel Benz, Christoph Ehinger, Monika Hallinger, Ralf Scherzinger and Bahtiyar Uysal were acknowledged for their 25 years, and Josef Schneider has already reached 30 years with the Franz Morat Group. This year, Mario Dilger, Gerald Erdmann, Ralf Henkelmann, Martin Plé, Claudio Usai and Andreas Wehrle received the honorary certificate from the state of Baden-Württemberg and the municipality of Eisenbach for a proud 40 years of company service.
