Sustainable Plastics - November/December 2023 - 15

inside at... Wittmann
Economic recovery?
Maybe next year
The pivotable
injection unit
for significantly
easier barrel
changes
The EcoPower
Every downswing is followed by an
upswing, said Michael Wittmann,
president of Wittmann Technology.
" That's how economic cycles work. "
W
ittmann's exc
ept ion all y
high backlog
going into
2023 cushioned the company
against feeling the eff ects of
the economic downturn this
year in terms of sales revenue.
In fact, the figure for this
year is expected to show an
increase of 9% over last year,
said Michael Wittmann, both
because of the order backlog
but also because a number of
supply issues have also been
resolved. As a result, deliveries
have picked up significantly.
The impact of the economic
slowdown has therefore largely
passed by Wittmann - for
the time being, that is.
" We will only notice the economic
slowdown in our overall
sales revenue with a delay,
specifically next year in 2024, "
said Wittmann.
The downturn in economic
activity has persisted since
mid-2022, which is a relatively
long period by historical standards,
he noted. " This may also
be explained by the fact that the
investment boom in 2021 and
early 2022 was exuberant and
resulted in investments being
brought forward, and these now
have to be compensated for. "
And although there are currently
no indicators pointing to a significant
economic recovery, he
is optimistic that market activity
will start to pick up next year.
" We'll be looking at an improvement
in order bookings
compared with 2023 and a temporary
slowdown in revenue in
2024, " Wittmann predicted. He
added that, generally speakA
diverse portfolio
of products
Wittmann has a much wider
portfolio of plastics equipment
and machinery than many
other European machinery
manufacturers, and this has
proved to be an advantage in
helping the company to better
navigate through the current
phase of economic weakness
in various ways.
As Wittmann pointed out,
Michael Wittmann
ing, the diff erent regions in
which the company operates
have been aff ected to varying
degrees by the economic crisis.
" Central Europe, Germany
and Austria, in particular, are
suff ering the most. In Western
and Eastern Europe, we can
already see slight signs of improvement.
Asia will also recover
more quickly, while North
America continues to show
pleasing market activity. "
particularly in times when
investment activity is at low
ebb, customers still purchase
equipment that is priced below
qualified investment
thresholds, while delaying
investment in higher-priced
products. " A further distinction
results from the individual sale
of equipment and machinery
to diff erent industrial sectors, "
he added.
The turnkey options off ered
by Wittmann Technology provide
additional advantages,
in that each component in the
continued on page 16
November/December 2023
15
Photos credits: Wittmann Group
Sustainable Plastics - November/December 2023

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