WITRON has reported a 10% growth in turnover, to €600 million, in its financial year 2019, as the number of incoming orders increased by almost 50% year-on-year.
The company sees its technological competitive advantage in food retail logistics, as well as the timely and secure implementation of customer projects, as the basis for its success.
Moreover, WITRON was successful in actively approaching leading-edge topics and embedding them holistically into its WITRON systems.
This includes multi-functional omnichannel platforms, end-to-end integration of ecosystems, the use of AI applications, as well as sustainability – starting with workstation ergonomics, optimal demand-related store supply, waste reduction along the entire supply chain, and significant CO2 reduction.
Key Milestone
In 2019, WITRON succeeded, once again, in receiving numerous demanding projects in Europe and North America.
The orders came from the entire retail range – both food and non-food – across both stationary store businesses as well as online companies.
For the first time, WITRON is set to realise two logistics centres for an Australian customer.
Also, the recent signing of a contract for an omnichannel distribution centre for the Swedish retailer Axfood, near Stockholm, was the largest single order for WITRON in its almost 50-year history.
A Record Number Of Trainees
WITRON created more than 500 new jobs at a national and international level in 2019.
The family-owned company already employs 4,000 people worldwide, with approximately 1,800 people located at its headquarters in the northern Upper Palatinate.
In order to successfully meet the demand for skilled personnel, training remains an important pillar of the company's philosophy, the company said.
For this reason, WITRON employed 100 new trainees in the past year – a record number.
Strategic Investment - Doubling Of Production Capacities
At the end of 2019, the company started working on a project to expand the production area in Parkstein by an additional 120,000 square metres (1.3 million square feet).
The high demand for WITRON solutions over many years, as well as an extremely positive future forecast, are the reasons behind this decision.
The investment in this project amounts to around €160 million.
After the planned completion – just in time for the 50th anniversary of the company in 2021 – the entire WITRON production area will cover more than 212,000 square metres (2.3 million square feet).
Johannes Meißner Strengthens WITRON Management
In addition, the systems integrator has expanded its management board with the appointment of Johannes Meißner as a technical managing director on 1 January 2020.
Meißner specialises in communications engineering and has been working for the company for more than 30 years.
He will be responsible for the WITRON IT and PLC systems within WITRON GmbH.
The central motivation for his appointment was the enormous growth of the company in all business areas, as well as increasingly complex customer demands regarding the end-to-end integration of logistics centres into a holistic and intelligent supply chain.
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