Maschinenfabrik Gustav Eirich GmbH & Co KG: The success story continues

Eirich, the family-owned and family-run company from Hardheim in Germany, has a whole host of anniversary celebrations coming up. So many, in fact, that there is simply not enough time to celebrate each and every one of them! With anniversaries to mark 160 years of the company headquarters, 50 years of Eirich in Brazil, and the foundation of a new subsidiary in Thailand, 2023 really was a historic year. In addition, the company also recorded countless successes in many different industries, while the new, digitized trade show booth met with a very warm response, numerous new products were launched, and turnover across the Eirich Group rose to almost €200 million.

Next year the anniversaries will keep coming thick and fast. The company’s Japanese subsidiary celebrates its 50th anniversary, while Eirich Group China has reached a proud 30 years, and celebrations will take place in India to mark both 25 years of Eirich in India and the opening of a new production plant.

Hardheim, December 2023: “We can be incredibly proud of our successes both in recent years and in the current year. Visitors were very impressed with the way we presented ourselves at a wide range of trade fairs and industry events, including GIFA, Interpack, the Battery Show, and Powtech. A major focus was also on the concrete industry. This year we have delivered numerous projects and orders we managed to secure off the back of BAUMA 2022. At the moment, we are preparing ourselves intensively for a range of new challenges, which we are greatly looking forward to. There are tremendous opportunities for us right now particularly in the areas of electromobility, food production, and digitalization,” summarizes CEO Stephan Eirich.

Eirich defies strained economic situation and competitive pressures

2023 was not always an easy year for the industry, and the effects were also felt by the Eirich Group. Political and economic events such as the ongoing war in Ukraine, rising energy prices, the new conflict in the Middle East, and the threat of conflict between China and Taiwan have all had a major impact on the German economy. Climate change, shortages of raw materials, and supply chain issues have combined with intensifying competition and price pressures, which are being further aggravated by product piracy, to add to the strains on the company.

For Eirich, this makes it important to further speed up the process of developing its offering of products and services through detailed understanding of the market as well as through research and development work. Here, the company is focusing on its core industries, but it is also keeping a close eye on additional markets.

2024 is the year of new industries and digitalization 

As part of the company’s push into the food sector, in the new year Eirich will be exhibiting for the first time at the ProSweets trade fair for confectionery and snacks in Cologne, and with a stand at Anuga FoodTec it is also aiming to impress the food industry with its mixing technology. The company plans to use its know-how to help the confectionery & snacks industry develop resource-efficient production systems for high-quality products and to highlight new options for the sector. With its CleanLine C5, the company now presents a machine that meets the exacting standards of the food industry for applications in which good hygiene and avoidance of contamination are vital. The mixer is a versatile food processor in which multiple process steps are performed in a single mixing chamber, which boosts efficiency while reducing risk of contamination at the same time.

The topic of digitalization also continues to be hugely important for the Eirich Group, and this is something that is always reflected in the evolution of existing products and in the development of new ones. With this in mind, the company has launched two new products this year – EL5 and VC2, which really stand out with their digital innovations among other things. The latest control software, smart data analysis, and the use of AI for optimized quality control are important features here.

Optimistic about the continued future of Germany as a home for manufacturing

“We have a great deal planned for 2024. And one of the things we will also need to address is the question over Germany as a home for the manufacturing sector. Germany needs to become more attractive again for companies. This is a challenge for our politicians in particular. As a traditional, family-run company, we believe strongly that we will continue to succeed with continuously rising efficiency, innovative products, and a strong team. Growth industries with great potential for the future are important to us alongside our core industries. The greater the diversity of our offerings and the industries we serve, the more optimistic we can be about the future,” is the outlook offered by CEO Ralf Rohmann.

In addition, another goal is to implement a global production strategy at all sites in order to safeguard the company’s own competitiveness. Eirich will continue to invest in ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning systems for the planning of many corporate tasks), production, digitalization, and new test centers at multiple locations, including in Germany.

“Despite the often difficult overall situation this year, our summary is definitely a positive one. With the celebrations to mark the 160th anniversary of the company, together with our employees we were able to toast not only this particular anniversary, but – much more than this – an exceptional success story that is nowhere near over yet. Nonetheless, it is important for us to keep scrutinizing our internal structures so that we can ask ourselves how well they serve our processes and help us to ensure that our customers’ requirements are met, so that we can continue to achieve further successes in the future,” adds the managing partner.