* 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.
