As an international market leader in providing warehouse automation for the world’s main food retailers, the WITRON Group continued its strong growth in 2021.
Revenue increased by 48% (or €340 million), to €1.05 billion, exceeding the €1 billion mark for the first time.
The company hired 600 new people in 2021, taking the total number of employees across the world to 5,100 people.
The year 2021 was not just a busy one for WITRON, but also an extremely successful one. The company’s 50th anniversary was celebrated ‘in accordance with the circumstances’ due to the global pandemic.
In this period, WITRON added 120,000 square metres of production area for conveyor technology and switch cabinets, with the opening of the €200 million investment ‘Werk II Nord’.
The company attributed its extraordinary growth to the strong confidence of new and regular customers in WITRON’s automated end-to-end solutions.
Numerous installation contracts were signed with food, near-food and non-food retailers from the core markets of Europe and North America.
A majority of the orders refer to omnichannel distribution centres, which supply all distribution channels – stores, click-and-collect and online – with all dry, fresh and frozen products – both cases and pieces.
WITRON also started with the implementation of a pure e-food distribution centre for a Swedish retailer.
Despite difficult conditions due to the present COVID-19 pandemic, national and international ramp-ups were completed in time, including the commissioning of the Migros Verteilbetrieb AG logistics centre in Neuendorf (Switzerland).
Currently, WITRON employs 57 on-site teams in 13 countries, and the demand is still rising.
In 2021, teams in Australia and Sweden were added for the first time, which means that more than 3,000 employees in the service environment ensure permanently high system availability and investment security, nationally and internationally, with over 90% of the staff members working directly at the customer’s site.
WITRON’s founder and owner, Walter Winkler, stated, “The decisive factor is our unique corporate culture. Constantly practised values, such as taking on responsibility, rolling up one’s sleeves, keeping promises, being credible, reliable and predictable, and remaining down to earth, are no buzzwords, but vital key differentiators that make a company unique, and not interchangeable on the market.”
Winkler continued, “We realise projects in a system-relevant industry sector. Our solutions supply more than 100 million people daily with groceries and many important everyday necessities in stores or online. We are aware of this responsibility and challenge every day, and with the optimal opportunities offered by the additional resources of Werk II Nord, highly motivated employees, and a full order book, we are happy to meet this challenge.
“The year 2021 has been a successful one for the WITRON Group, and – especially in a socially and politically difficult environment – we will continue to work hard for the success of our customers and employees.”
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest supply chain news. Sponsored post. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
