The 2021 financial year was both a successful and very challenging year for Beckhoff . "We could certainly have grown even further last year, but the shortage of components and our own capacities set limits in some areas," says managing owner Hans Beckhoff, explaining the tense situation in many areas of the industry.

The economic development

The sales curve at Beckhoff Automation continues to rise exponentially. Since 2000, the automation technology specialist from Verl has recorded average annual growth of 15 %.

© Beckhoff Automation

For the German market, Beckhoff achieved an increase in sales of
of around 27 %, while incoming orders more than doubled. The company also recorded similar trends in many other countries in which it sells its products.

"With one or two exceptions, we saw significant growth in almost all countries with their own sales offices in 2021 - often in the double-digit percentage range," summarizes Beckhoff. He explains: "Our two largest subsidiaries in China and the USA also saw strong double-digit growth."

As in Germany, incoming orders abroad were usually significantly higher than actual sales growth.

Automation technology is currently experiencing a real boom all over the world and across all sectors. However, demand is exceeding suppliers' production capacities, which are also being weakened by the global pandemic. For Beckhoff, this is particularly evident in the shortage of semiconductors and the lack of other electronic components. "This bottleneck is likely to continue beyond 2022," predicts Hans Beckhoff, adding: "Nevertheless, we must prepare for better raw material availability in order to be able to fulfill customer orders as quickly as possible. For this reason, we are working intensively on expanding and optimizing our entire company - from administration to development and production."

Expansion at the Verl headquarters

The rapid and dynamic growth of the company presents the technology company with major challenges. Production capacities have already been expanded and personnel resources increased. By the middle of the year, Beckhoff will expand its production capacities in Verl and the surrounding area by over 50% compared to the beginning of 2020. "To this end, we are activating our last space reserves and acquiring additional areas," says Beckhoff. Beckhoff recently acquired a 15-hectare site in the immediate vicinity of existing properties in a newly planned inter-municipal industrial park between the towns of Rietberg and Verl. "An industrial park is to be created here, which will offer both Beckhoff Automation and our wholly owned subsidiaries Smyczek and Schirmer, which are also growing dynamically with us, space for further expansion in the future. Over the next ten years, at least an additional 1000 jobs will be created here."

Expansion outside Verl

At the same time as the expansion in Verl, Beckhoff is expanding nationally and internationally. The company has its own subsidiaries in 40 countries. This network is constantly being expanded. In Balingen, Baden-Württemberg, a new building is currently being constructed for the sales branch located there. In Marktheidenfeld in Lower Franconia, the motor production facility of the subsidiary Fertig Motors is being expanded.

Beckhoff also opened an office in Kaunas, Lithuania, in the 2021 financial year to serve the local market. The subsidiary Beckhoff Austria is building a new headquarters in Bürs. At the same time, Beckhoff Sweden is building a new headquarters and the first production facility outside Germany is to be built near Shanghai in China.
The main reason for this is to be able to better serve the Chinese market, which is one of the strongest for Beckhoff Automation in terms of sales with a share of more than 22%, from its own country.