International. "The year 2020 was like a roller coaster: suddenly and rapidly alternating between border closures, material supply cuts, falling sales and rising order books," says Peter Fenkl, CEO of Ziehl-Abegg.
The company located in southern Germany generated sales of 639 million euros in 2020 (previous year: 633 million euros); that's an increase of about 1 percent. In the current year, the performance to date suggests that the company will record a good increase in sales.
"During the crisis, we launched several major construction projects around the world and invested in machinery, so Ziehl-Abegg can now absorb the growth," says Fenkl. However, Covid-19 regulations represent a significant obstacle to production and sales. This is compounded by a global shortage of components. And the sword of Damocles of the pandemic hangs above all: "no one knows if we will see the beginning of another downward trend next week."
The company felt the onset of the pandemic a year ago and reacted early. Fenkl takes a look back: "We were one of the first German companies to issue a warning about travel to and from China and shortly thereafter we issued the same message for Italy." The Hohenlohe district, where the three German production plants and the company's headquarters are located, was one of the three hot spots of the German Crown in the first wave of the Covid pandemic; this was due to the fact that several public events had rapidly accelerated the spread of the virus.
Ziehl-Abegg was quickly forced to abandon its original sales plans the previous year. The fact that sales performed very well in early summer in some areas, such as elevator drive technology, did not compensate for the drop in ventilation systems. Ventilation systems only began to catch up in the fourth quarter, allowing Ziehl-Abegg to finally record slight growth in annual sales. "This is thanks to the tireless efforts of our colleagues who have done a very good job during the pandemic in Germany and around the world," emphasizes the company's CEO.
The number of employees remained constant in 2020: Ziehl-Abegg employs 2,400 people in Germany, the total figure globally is 4,300. However, this figure is not intended to remain at the same level: "At present, we are constantly looking for employees to join us and 'lend a hand' in the production plants at our three locations in Germany," says Fenkl.
