Increasing material and supply bottlenecks, the effects of the climate crisis, tougher international competition, the shortage of skilled workers and the ongoing Covid 19 pandemic – the challenges facing German mechanical engineering companies are growing all the time. Despite these challenging conditions, Cloos was able to close fiscal year 2021 very successfully and return to growth. The average annual growth rate of 10 percent in order intake and sales has thus returned to the level seen before the Corona crisis.
“We are proud of innovations and further developments in all product areas,” says Managing Director Stephan Pittner. He has been managing the company since the beginning of the year together with Alexander Veidt, who joined Cloos in November, following the departure of long-time managing director Sieghard Thomas. “With many new products, we have again set high standards in manual and automated welding technology.”
Last year, for example, the company successfully established the new Qineo StarT entry-level welding equipment series on the market, developed Qineo QuesT, a new high-end power source for TIG welding, introduced innovative welding processes for even more efficient welding production, and repositioned the extensive Qirox robot portfolio for different production requirements. In addition, Cloos has successfully launched Qirox Expert Line, a new modular product line for standard automation components on the Chinese market, which will now be rolled out worldwide.
In addition, digitalization has been a central topic at Cloos for many years and is strongly driven forward in development: Starting with individual component identification via offline programming, 3D measurement, automatic operation and production data monitoring via easily scalable dashboards up to preventive maintenance and servicing.
An internal digitization team is continuously developing the C-Gate IoT Platform – the focus here is on the individual requirements of the customers. “Over the next few months, we want to consolidate our diverse digital solutions into a holistic platform,” Pittner explains. He is confident of continuing the positive trend with smart products and solutions in 2022. “Our development budget is well above the industry average, accounting for more than eight percent of sales, because innovative products are the basis for the Group’s success.”
In order to position itself even better for the future and to further increase the degree of automation as well as flexibility in production, Cloos invested heavily in the area of mechanical processing at its headquarters in Haiger last year with new high-tech machines. “As a globally positioned company, we want to continue to grow not only in Haiger,” emphasizes Alexander Veidt. “We are also continuously expanding our international sites to increase local capacity.” The Czech subsidiary Cloos Prague, for example, more than doubled its action area at a new location last year.
Cloos has 13 subsidiaries, some with their own production facilities. Around one third of the 850 employees work at the international sites. In addition, there are more than 60 sales and service centers worldwide.
Web:
www.cloos.de
