The POLYRACK TECH-GROUP celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Over the years, the company group has developed into a globally operating family-run enterprise. In fiscal year 2018, the POLYRACK Group once again achieved strong sales growth. For this purpose, the company has heavily expanded its technology areas, for 2019 as well as the coming years many investments are planned.
Since it was founded in 1979, the POLYRACK Group has developed from a one-man operation into a globally operating family-run enterprise. Over the decades, more and more new technologies, markets and know-how have been added. On the basis of its standard business the company has developed into a cross-technology system provider. Today, its portfolio encompasses engineering with extensive technology know-how in the fields of mechanical and plastics technology, system technology and surface technology. In addition, it offers a wide standard portfolio as well as logistics and sourcing services.
The POLYRACK Group currently has more than 450 employees at various sites in the Straubenhardt / Ettlingen area (Baden Württemberg) and in the US, China, Switzerland and Belgium. “I am proud of the fact that despite our growth we have remained a family-run company with clear structures that steers the destiny of the company with moderation and responsibility and will pursue this in the next generation as well”, declares Horst Rapp, company founder and owner of the POLYRACK Group, who is still active today. “As entrepreneurs, we are responsible first and foremost for our customers and for our employees. As owners of the company, the family wishes to undertake this responsibility also for the next 40 years and be a reliable partner both for our business partners and our employees.”
“Today the company offers a broad range of products and services and is represented in many sectors and markets. This provides us with stability and our customers with the requisite reliability”, adds executive manager, Andreas Rapp.
Successful Fiscal Year 2018
The POLYRACK Group looks back on a successful fiscal year 2018: In 2018, the company was able to increase its sales by around 10% and achieved total sales of around 70 million Euros (not consolidated). Once again, the company group showed a double-digit percentage increase in incoming orders and order backlog. “We were able to sustainably develop the company group not only with our existing customers but also and above all with new customers and new projects. In 2019 we anticipate growth in about the same amount”, explains Andreas Rapp.
The main growth sectors are medical engineering, measurement and control technology, broadcasting, machinery and plant engineering, traffic-control systems, railway technology and aerospace. POLYRACK has also systematically expanded its standard and modified standard business in the fields of 19″ and embedded computing to fit specific markets.
Numerous Investments for Continuing Growth Track
In 2018 POLYRACK modernized and reorganized the ESD area in assembly in order to be able to support its customers with in-house engineering in collaboration with its customers.
In the coming years too, POLYRACK plans extensive investments, first and foremost by expanding the factory in Ettlingen, near Karlsruhe. Here the company will expand its sheet metal production and logistics with a building extension of around 1300 m2. In addition, the machinery will be successively upgraded and replaced by 2020. By 2021, the investment volume of the POLYRACK Group will amount to five to six million Euros, embracing all technology areas: punch and laser technology, bending, welding, milling, plastics and surface technology as well as further development of quality assurance and measurement engineering.
POLYRACK has built up extensive project experience and detailed know-how in systems technology, above all in the field of “open VPX” standards. “In future, the systems sector will play an even more important role, so we want to expand this further and invest in R&D and manufacturing know-how”, Andreas Rapp explains. “For this year and the coming year, we see an increasing number of project implementations above all in the areas of embedded computing and display technology.”
In order to achieve its objectives in the coming years, POLYRACK is also ramping up its workforce and investing in employee development.
“With these investments, we consider the company group well prepared for accomplishing the upcoming customer projects and it has scope for future growth with our customers”, according to Andreas Rapp.
Focus on Quality
Various companies within the POLYRACK Group have recently been successfully re-certified in accordance with DIN EN ISO 9001(2015) and IATF. Certification to DIN EN 9100 – aerospace – will be completed during the course of 2020. “With this, we want to show this target group too that we can offer top performance in technology and quality”, says Andreas Rapp.
Strong Domestic Market and Further Internationalization
In 2018, it was the German market that largely contributed to the sales growth: here there are still attractive growth opportunities for the POLYRACK Group. For further growth potential the focus is on international markets, in particular the countries in Europe and the US and Canada. Currently, exports account for around 50% of POLYRACK Group’s sales. “Our goal is to achieve positive sales development. But we want to do this with the necessary sense of proportion and entrepreneurial foresight”, says Andreas Rapp.
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