Well positioned for the future

Schlegel is satisfied with the 2023 financial year overall

Schlegel Managing Director Christoph Schlegel took an overall satisfactory stock of the year 2023. Positive points are: new products were launched on the market in 2023, a new planning system was implemented and two design awards were won. In economic terms, the year was largely good - except for the final months.

"We have experienced an extreme rollercoaster ride in recent years," Christoph Schlegel looked back. Demand exploded in 2021 and 2022. 2023 also went well for the most part before incoming orders collapsed in November and December. Our company was hit hard by the slump in the machine building sector. The result: the introduction of short-time working in the production departments from January. "We would have liked to have avoided this, but the decline in orders left us no choice."

Nevertheless, Christoph Schlegel is cautiously optimistic about the future. He assumes that the trough will be passed in the course of the spring and that orders will pick up again. SCHLEGEL has not lost any customers, they are just acting more cautiously at the moment. "They are currently still drawing on stocks that they have built up over the past few years due to supply chain problems," says Schlegel. "But we are optimistic that the trend will soon be back on an upward trajectory."

Design expert of the industry

The company believes it is well positioned for the future. Schlegel also succeeded in launching new developments and new products on the market last year. In 2023, Schlegel once again received two prestigious design awards for its products: the Red Dot and the IF. "This enabled us to further raise our profile as a 'design expert' in the industry," says Schlegel.

Internal processes were also optimised with the introduction of the new planning tool "3Liter-PPS" in order to keep SCHLEGEL's delivery reliability high in the long term.

The company has also set an important course for 2023. "Last year, we were able to purchase two plots of land in the near neighbourhood. Should we continue to grow and need to expand, this would be possible at the location in Dürmentingen site," emphasised Schlegel.

Familiar corporate culture

Although the company has grown significantly in recent years, SCHLEGEL continues to attach great importance to a family-orientated corporate culture. This is promoted at Schlegel through a wide range of employee activities throughout the year. The company health management programme and free company supplementary health insurance are also benefits for employees.

"We want to continue to be a good and reliable employer," emphasised Schlegel, "because only with good employees we can achieve our goals and offer our customers the best quality products."