The Pilz group of companies based in Ostfildern, Germany, enjoyed a very successful end to the 2014 financial year. The family business increased its turnover to the new record value of US$287.2 million (259.3 million Euro). This is an increase of 11.3 percent over 2013 for the world market leader in safety relays and safety control systems. The number of employees also rose last year, by 6.3 percent, to 1,922.
"Our growth is based on a strong foundation in terms of regional distribution, industry sectors and our portfolio as well", explains Renate Pilz, Chair of the Board of Pilz GmbH & Co. KG. The fact that the share of exports rose again, to 69.5 percent (+ 1.3 per cent over 2013), provides the evidence. Turnover growth was also recorded in the classic European markets.
Excellent prospects in the Far East
As in previous years, the Asian market, most notably China, remained the largest growth market. Pilz benefits not only from sustained local growth of export-oriented engineering, but also from Chinese industry's increased focus generally on quality, sustainability and therefore also safety. Since opening its production site in the Chinese city of Jintan in Spring of 2015, Pilz has been supplying customers in China even faster.
Sustained employee growth
Pilz is continuing the growth of the last few years in terms of its staff as well. As of December 31, 2014, the automation company employed 1,922 people in 31 subsidiaries worldwide. This is an increase of 45 percent in the past 5 years. In 2015, Pilz plans to create about 200 more jobs worldwide.
Investments in research and development well above average
Traditionally, research and development are very high on the agenda at Pilz. In 2014, the owner-operated company invested 20 percent of turnover into the development of new products and technologies. That places Pilz well above the industry average for manufacturing companies.
Complete portfolio for the challenges of Industry 4.0
With its R&D activities Pilz pays particular attention to Industry 4.0, i.e. increased networking within production due to Internet technologies. The automation of plant and machinery has a central role to play here. Pilz believes it is well-equipped to meet the challenge: "Our portfolio includes intelligent sensors and drives as well as control systems that are capable of managing even complex, distributed plants safely. So we already offer a complete portfolio for the automation tasks of the future. For example, with the Industry 4.0-compatible automation system PSS 4000 for safety and automation, users can control distributed, modular plants simply and economically", says Renate Pilz.
Pilz has made an excellent start to the 2015 financial year. "We are very happy with the orders received in the first few months. We are optimistic that in 2015 we will be able to continue to grow at the level achieved", says Renate Pilz, looking ahead.
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