The sales success in 2021 was due to high demand for new wood-based panel production plants, diversification of its forming business, growing customer interest in sustainable solutions and the introduction of the Cebro smart plant concept that gives manufacturers more insight into their production and processes.
“Despite many restrictions related to COVID-19, it was an excellent year for Dieffenbacher,” said CEO Christian Dieffenbacher.
“We served our customers just as well as in the times before the pandemic, and that makes me very proud of our team. Each of our three business units—Wood, Forming and Recycling—performed well and received significant new orders from customers.
“We want to gradually expand this to over 500 million euros over the next few years,” he added.
“We can accomplish this by continuing to offer innovative and compelling products, supported by qualified and committed employees. A double-digit million euro investment at our headquarters in Eppingen will help us achieve these growth targets.”
The company is targeting a €450m turnover in 2022.
The Wood business unit recorded high demand for new plants on nearly every continent. In Europe, Dieffenbacher received an increasing number of orders for plants that produce special products such as wood-fibre insulation boards and plants that deploy advanced environmental technology solutions for greater sustainability.
An example of an order where Dieffenbacher was the single technology source supplier was Homanit Group’s order for a new plant in Pagirai, Lithuania, that combines environmental technology solutions with the fibre dryer and a 50MW energy plant to ensure minimal emissions.
Dieffenbacher also received four orders for plants to produce wood fibre insulation boards used for ecologically smart and climate-friendly insulation in house construction.
The diversification of the Forming business unit (formerly Composites business unit), which Dieffenbacher began at the end of 2020 with its re-entry into the metal industry, also proved successful.
The Recycling business unit attracted customers with sustainable solutions in the areas of wood recycling, alternative fuels and “Waste2Product.”
The business unit designs and supplies plants that process recycled wood for particleboard production—using state-of-the-art sorting technology to achieve purity levels of up to 99.5%—and plants that produce pallets from 100% recycled plastic materials.
The introduction of the company’s Cebro smart plant concept which includes its Evoris digital platform, featuring AI-supported analysis of live data, is seen as an important development.
“Sustainability and digitalization will remain our primary focus,” explained Mr Dieffenbacher.