Annual Report (PDF) - Feintool

Continued growth
Like in previous years, sales generated
by the global activities of System Parts
grew during the financial year, advancing
by 7%. In this case, growth is due to
more than just good economic conditions
overall: intensive efforts to capture
new application areas for the fineblanking/forming
manufacturing process also
paid off. Factors driving this sustained
success include a committed employee
base, a strategy of focusing on a few
highly promising customers and applications
as well as a global presence with
effective key account management.
Despite increased costs for energy,
materials and wages that we could only
partially pass on to our customers, and
notwithstanding a sluggish US business,
we were still able to nearly maintain the
previous year’s very good earnings.
Strength in Europe
The European operations were the primary
contributors to the positive results,
with a 16% increase in sales. The
capacity of the three plants in Lyss,
Ettlingen and Jena is being exploited to
the full. Capacity bottlenecks arose to a
certain extent, resulting in higher logistics
expenditures, but this did not impair
the positive earnings.
Heinz Loosli
Head of System Parts
To enable us to meet ever increasing
demand from the automotive industry
for assembly-ready components, multiple
investments were made in the further
processing of fineblanked and
formed parts, thus boosting the value
added component.
Growth in Asia
The production capacity that was established
in Japan during the previous year
got up to full speed very quickly, meeting
a prerequisite for further growth.
This brought about a growth rate of 11%
– comparable to previous years. The
option to further expand the new site in
Tokoname serves as a basis for targeted
acquisition of new customers and
applications. In this manner, the highly
promising entry into the automotive
drive train application area was successfully
executed.
Subdued climate in the United States
After the high sales volume of the previous
year, this financial year witnessed a
slight decrease. This was due primarily
to lower sales of vans and SUVs (a
result of higher gasoline prices) combined
with problems experienced by
some of our major American customers.
Our prior investments did not see sufficient
utilization, thus impacting adversely
on our earnings. The North American
market is experiencing an upheaval like
nowhere else. Production is in many
cases being shifted to countries such as
Korea and China while the Japanese
and Europeans are continuing to expand
their production depth in the United
States and South America. By exploiting
our good market position in Japan,
Feintool expects to enjoy an increasing
market share in this attractive, growing
customer segment.
New projects
A new technology that has been patented
by Feintool attracted the attention of
the major carmakers. This technology is
useful for producing drive components
that are more cost-effective and embody
new technical characteristics.
Positive outlook
We are expecting a robust first half of
the year, though with a possible slight
slowdown to follow. In the second half
of the year, further increases in material
prices could have a negative impact.
The initiation of new series deliveries
towards the end of the year could provide
a double-digit growth impulse for
the following financial year. In view of
these positive medium-term prospects,
we are planning to expand our capacity
in both Europe and Asia.
Lining plates for brakes are fineblanked and formed
in large series runs, fitted with brake linings and
installed in disk brake systems. Here, we see a part
produced by the Feintool plant in Lyss for a system
from Continental Automotive Systems which, for
example, helps to ensure the safe functioning of
various BMW models.
Feintool System Parts AG, Lyss, Switzerland
Feintool Teile & Komponenten AG Lyss, Switzerland
Promera Ettlingen Feinschneidtechnik GmbH,
Ettlingen, Germany
Promera Jena Feinschneid- und Umformtechnik
GmbH, Jena, Germany
Feintool Cincinnati, Inc., Cincinnati, USA
Feintool New York, Inc., White Plains, USA
Feintool Tennessee, Inc., Nashville, USA
Feintool Japan Co. Ltd., Atsugi und Tokoname, Japan
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