Contrary to the economic situation in the mechanical engineering sector, Gerhard Schubert GmbH is reporting significant growth for 2023. In Crailsheim, the company not only presented its latest annual report, but also the new building at its headquarters, a flagship project in terms of climate protection and workplace design.
With a total operating performance of 320 million euros and an increase in turnover of more than nine per cent, the packaging machine manufacturer is proving stable despite adverse market conditions. As part of its Mission Blue sustainability programme, the company is now focusing even more strongly on the Research and development of environmentally friendly packaging technologies.
„Our Vision 2050 and Mission Blue are the right strategy for Schubert's future. We have bucked the trend and achieved a very good annual result. A team effort that we can be proud of.“
Marcel Kiessling, Managing Director Sales and Service of Gerhard Schubert GmbH
Continuous growth for the thirteenth year in a row, even under difficult conditions - Schubert is thus maintaining its pioneering role in the packaging industry. The Schubert Group has established itself with an estimated total output of 400 million euros. further increased. Around 1,700 employees now belong to the group of companies, of which around 1,200 work for Gerhard Schubert GmbH in Crailsheim. Despite a shortage of skilled labour, the mechanical engineering company has succeeded, increase its core workforce and use the increased productivity to process the high order backlog for 2023.
Production and assembly capacities have also been fully utilised so far this year and the order books are full until 2025. This is a good starting position for innovative product developments, especially as the Budget for research and development expenditure in 2024 amounting to nine per cent of total operating performance is once again the largest single budget.
„This year, we will continue to invest in digitalisation and the expansion of our existing product portfolio. Our key future technologies include the resource-saving TLM Comfort Feeder in conjunction with the A3 carton erector for feeding cardboard blanks and the Dotlock technology for strong joints of cardboard packaging without hot glue.“
Ralf Schubert, Managing partner and responsible for technology
Also on this list are the Expansion of Schubert Motion technology to other robot units for optimising path planning, the production-ready collaborative robot tog.519 and the 4YOUconnect service platform. Research activities in the field of robot technology are being further intensified in order to through AI projects in robotics and image processing to secure the future viability of the company. This is also the direction of the work on of the new TLM 7 machine generation. Additional success factors in the current business development are the establishment of industrial 3D printing processes on demand for additive manufacturing and the consistent further development of sustainable packaging solutions with the services of Schubert Packaging Perspectives.
High vertical integration, more capacity
Another decisive advantage for Schubert is the High in-house production rate of 53 per cent. With Schubert Fertigungstechnik GmbH, which produces mechanical components and assemblies from aluminium or using the 3D printing process, and Schubert System Elektronik GmbH, which develops and supplies electronic components, the company covers important areas of production in-house, making it less dependent on global supply chains. At the same time, the manufacturer benefits from short transport routes, as both subsidiaries, like Crailsheim, are also located in Baden-Württemberg.
On average, the main site in Crailsheim will be approx. 140 packaging machines per year are built and delivered - almost two thirds of them for the food industry alone (39 per cent) and the confectionery industry (25 per cent). A further 17 per cent goes to pet food manufacturers. But Schubert machines are also used to pack beverages, cosmetics, cleaning agents and pharmaceutical products.
Schubert has once again significantly expanded its production capacity with the construction of a new assembly hall and office building at its main site. On a total area of 13,000 square metres 30 per cent more space for final assembly and workstations for 300 employees was created. The design and assembly departments are now even closer together, which promotes direct feedback, creative technological ideas and the ongoing development of energy-saving machine components.
The modern working environment should also support the company's sustainable goals, to become one of the best employers in Germany and thus attract sufficient skilled labour in the long term. The energy concept of the new building also has a positive impact on sustainability: Equipped with one of the largest ice storage tanks in the world, heat pump technology and photovoltaics on the roof the buildings are operated completely climate-neutrally in accordance with Scope 1 and 2 of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
Internationalisation as a strategy for further growth
Sustainable growth remains the goal for Schubert and the path to achieve this is clear: „We are convinced that sustained growth is only possible in the long term through the further internationalisation of our business activities In 2023, Schubert achieved 83 per cent of its total output through the export of packaging systems and services, including indirect exports through its subsidiary Schubert Packaging Systems GmbH.
With the Expansion of the North American site in Charlotte, North Carolina, Schubert is laying a strategic foundation for strengthening the international business division: an assembly hall with approx. 2000 m2, A larger office building with a training centre, more individual service offerings and a targeted expansion of expertise and personnel, combined with the flexible machine solutions, increase the potential in the North American market.
However, Ralf Schubert emphasises that further investments are also being made in Germany: „Our goal of building machines and systems of the best quality at optimum cost for our customers requires a high level of expertise. Further investments in effective production and assembly methods, which we constantly review and improve. That is why we have Investment budget for 2024 at the previous year's high level leave.“ Even if the market as a whole has not yet taken a positive turn, Schubert will probably know how to exploit the opportunities that have arisen from the trends of digitalisation, automation and sustainability in the future.
Source: Gerhard Schubert GmbH
