Annual Review 2022: groninger Breaks a New Record

The groninger group of companies closes the 2022 financial year with a new record result. More than 250 million euros worth of output will be produced overall in 2022, which corresponds to an increase of more than 16 percent from the year before. For the first time, the family firm surpasses the quarter billion euro threshold.

Jens Groninger, a spokesman for the group’s management, summarizes the new top result: “This is a new milestone in our 43-year company history, which fills us with pride on the one hand and humility on the other.

This exceptional business success cannot be taken for granted in light of the indicators from the previous year. The managing director of groninger states that these events, including the aftermath of the corona pandemic, the conflict in Ukraine, the European energy crisis, and continuously high inflation, left a mark on groninger as well. “The fact that we were still able to achieve this fantastic result is due to the tireless commitment of our employees, who met every challenge with a lot of commitment and passion.”

The shareholder family believes that the strong sense of unity that exists at all of groninger's locations is what has allowed the business to grow continuously since its founding in 1980. Managing Director, Volker Groninger, also confirms this. Such a balance sheet would be inconceivable if we didn’t stand together, especially during difficult times. This is just one of the reasons it is crucial to us to reward our staff and give them a stake in the business’s success. 

In concrete terms, this means that employees receive a profit share of over 60 percent of their monthly salary, which was paid out in April.

Both the order situation and the need for groninger’s goods and services remain high.

In terms of figures, this translates to an overall inbound order volume of almost 280 million euros. The order intake is over 217 million euros at the headquarters in Crailsheim, where groninger manufactures filling and closing lines for the pharmaceutical business. At the plant in Schnelldorf, which manufactures machines for processing consumer healthcare and cosmetic products, incoming orders total over 43 million euros. The order intake at the Charlotte, North Carolina, US division, which provides services in all areas, is close to 20 million euros.

The brothers Jens and Volker Groninger agree: “This is a great success. We have continued to expand our global presence and sustainably strengthened our position as an innovative solution provider. Customers view us as a trustworthy business partner who promotes longevity and quality.” With this comprehensive package, the team was once more successful in 2022 in generating interest in groninger among consumers.

Innovative system formats, such as the “robocell” launched in 2022, undoubtedly contributed to this as well. Here, the entire pharmaceutical processing procedure was reevaluated while taking into account all official and regulatory standards. As a result, processing is made safer, more effective, and more adaptable using a glove-free machine design that intelligently integrates robotic technologies.  

In the pharmaceuticals industry, the Covid-19 pandemic started to level off in 2022. “Systems for processing Covid vaccinations were in extremely high demand in 2020 and 2021. According to Dirk Schuster, Sales Manager Pharmaceuticals, the sector is currently catching up due to investments made by our customers in production facilities that were previously neglected due to the pandemic but increased again in 2022. “For us, this was reflected in increased demand for lines for processing blockbusters such as flu vaccines, medicines for diabetes, rheumatism and Alzheimer’s. In addition, the processing of small batch sizes has regained enormous importance. The essential phrase here is patient-specific therapy approaches, such cytostatics utilized in the management of cancer.”

Accordingly, Jens Groninger concludes that pressure within the pharmaceutical business is consistently high. The focus has just shifted a bit. “For our organization, these signs mean that we will continue to experience incredible dynamism in the coming years, which we must continue to live up to without compromising on the quality of our products and services or losing our innovative strength. I am already eagerly anticipating the exciting moments that are ahead.”

One topic that has become even more relevant in 2022 is sustainability. “Responsibility for people and the environment has become a mainstream issue; it is no longer a niche issue. This is a given for us as a family business that considers generations, says Volker Groninger, who adds: Across all business areas, “We feel the demands of our customers in this matter.” In the cosmetics sector, demand is especially strong.

According to Dr.-Ing. Frieder Kanitz, Managing Director in Schnelldorf, and Otto Helmle, Sales Manager Consumer Healthcare and Cosmetics, the industry has been under more consumer pressure lately.

Sustainability is a broad topic, says Helmle: “Consumers want a product that is as natural as possible, that is, free of specific ingredients and preservatives, as well as one that requires little packaging or is recyclable.”

With the increased demands on the product the demands on its processing also increase. “Preservatives are used in cosmetics to counteract the decomposition process of the raw materials used, as they otherwise quickly become rancid,” adds Kanitz. High water content products are particularly at risk because microorganisms such as bacteria and mold can thrive there.

“Therefore, processing that complies with the highest hygienic standards is the most important basis for processing cosmetics without synthetic additives.” groninger reacted to this many years ago and established the proper line formats: “We have used our know-how from the non-sterile pharmacy, so that we can already offer today’s solutions that our customers will increasingly need in the future” Kanitz and Helmle agree.

At groninger, the focus is not only on the future with regard to the machine portfolio.

Most recently, the new warehouse logistics center and adjoining office complex in Crailsheim were successively occupied. Jens Groninger says, “The commissioning of the building was delayed due to delivery bottlenecks for individual construction elements, which was actually planned for late summer.” “Now it’s time to finally put the building into operation and to further internalize the new, fully automated processes.”

The mechanical engineering company’s most significant investment to date is in the construction of the new building complex: The investment volume is more than 20 million euros.

According to Jens Groninger, “The new building was essential in order to be able to continue processing our high order backlog and to position ourselves in such a way that we can shape the future of groninger flexibly, innovatively, and safely.” “Just as we have been doing for 43 years.”