With restructuring complete and a new CEO in place from 1 September (see PIE 16, 2005), German compounding systems specialist Coperion (D-70469 Stuttgart; www.coperion.com) is shifting into higher gear. In the first half of 2005, the company saw order intake rise 25% against the 2004 period. According to a spokesman, after “difficult years,” Coperion also saw a positive EBITDA – for the first time since 2000. The replacement parts business, which former CEO Wolfgang-Dietrich Hein, speaking at K 2004, declared to be a “core topic,” evidently played a major role. This is now growing at a rate of 20% annually.

To take advantage of the situation, the company plans to increase the number of services centres worldwide to around 35 up to the end of 2007. In 2003, the total was eight, most of them in Europe and just one for the entire US market. In the meantime, Coperion has shifted its focus. While Europe (in particular due to the large number of machines in use) will remain important, Asia – especially China and Japan – alongside the US seems to hold a lot of promise for the German machinery producer. For this reason it would not be surprising if more extensive service effort were aimed at these markets.