2008-4-15

A boom in staple yarn production in Asia was a key factor in boosting  Oerlikon Textile to the best result in its history in 2007, with a record 27% increase in sales to CHF 2.72 billion.

The Asian boom, together with countless measures to optimise costs and productivity led to earnings before income tax more than tripling to reach CHF 208 million – an increase of some 206%.

This is a personal success for chief executive Dr Carsten Voigtländer, whose management team has been challenged with the reorganisation following the acquisition of Saurer by Oerlikon, which is headquartered in Pfäffikon, Switzerland.

“Last year’s balance sheet substantially proves that we are on the right course,” said Dr Voigtländer.

The reorganisation involved changes for all of the individual Saurer companies with a combined workforce of 8,000 employees at 50 production and service sites worldwide.

“We were able to smoothly and above all swiftly cope with the integration,” said Dr Voigtländer, adding that the company’s presentation at ITMA 2007 in Munich in particular was an important motor for the success.

During 2007, the company benefited from the boom in the staple yarn market with record growth in winding and rotor spinning machines. The main geographical growth area for the company is still Asia, and in particular China, where more than 20 million tons of all types of yarns are now being processed.

“We achieve a major part of our total turnover in China, having been represented there for about 20 years,” said Dr Voigtländer. More than 2,500 Oerlikon employees are now in China and all of the company’s texturing machines are already being entirely manufactured in the country. Currently, the production area of the company’s production plant in Suzhou is being expanded by 30,000 square metres to more than 100,000 square metres.

The full interview with Dr Voigtländer appears in Textile Month, Issue 2, 2008.