Apr 11, 2020 Like everyone else in the SMT industry, Europlacer is tightening its belt to cope with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Despite that, the company is still looking to the future as it continues to make prudent investments to help strengthen its position and enhance a successful growth plan.
In recent years, Europlacer has enjoyed significant growth in all territories and consolidated positions in its ‘home’ regions. This includes the setting up of direct sales offices and support hubs in Germany, Italy and Spain, and expanding its sales & service infrastructure across the Americas and Asia.
These efforts have delivered a growth of 11% (CAGR)) over the past seven years, with USA and China spearheading the improvement in sales volumes and revenue. The number of employees has risen from 114 to 177 in that same period. The company plans to grow this significantly in the next five years.
“Prior to the outbreak of coronavirus, we had taken a strategic decision to employ in a number of key positions,” explains Robert Conway, Chairman of the Board at Europlacer. “While many ‘corporate’ organisations at this time will be looking to slim down their workforce rather than hire more people, we are taking a longer-term view in the certain knowledge that the crisis will pass.”
Conway points out that this will allow the organisation to maintain and even accelerate the significant growth it has been enjoying. “Indeed, being the world’s largest independent manufacturer of SMT equipment without the burden of having to report to shareholders or pay dividends, we firmly believe that we must make these investments,” he adds.
To further support its progressive customer base as electronics manufacturers recover from the world-wide crisis, Europlacer has announced five key appointments:
- Thomas Borck (Germany) – Sales Manager
- Zeya Karimi (UK) – Regional Sales Executive
- Ben Sweeney (UK) – Regional Sales Executive
- Kirby Zhang (China) – General Manager State Business Sector
- Michael Xing (China) – General Manager Private Business Sector
With many of its existing customers part of critical national supply chains in their respective countries, Europlacer has delivered support as they continued to manufacture products over the last month. Conway is confident that all customers are poised to return to full production as soon as the virus threat recedes. In China, the company has already seen its business levels returning with the peak of the coronavirus passed. “Until that moment is reached globally, all of us at Europlacer will continue to support our customers through these difficult times while continuing to invest to be ready and fully resourced when normality returns,” Conway concludes.
The Blakell Europlacer Group comprises the Speedprint Technologies, Europlacer, and Blakell Europlacer Distribution business units. All three are active and pre-eminent in the electronic circuit board assembly sector with advanced product and service solutions for electronics manufacturers in the UK and globally. Speedprint Technologies is a provider of screen printing equipment used in surface mount assembly processes. Europlacer is a provider of surface mount component placement equipment. Blakell Europlacer Distribution augments the provision of screen printing and pick & place platforms in the UK with a range of associated equipment, including AOI, reflow and PCB handling.
