German machine tool manufacturer TRUMPF has provided a rare insight into its fiscal results, issuing sales projections for the 2020/21 and 2021/22 financial years.
In a brief glimpse of its financials for FY 2020/21, the privately-owned firm revealed that it expects to have generated €3.3 billion from product orders, but for FY 2021/22, it anticipates that this figure could now rise even higher to €3.9 billion, thanks in part to growing interest from its Chinese clientele, particularly those operating in the sustainable automotive market.
“We have started the new fiscal year with stable sales and very good incoming orders,” explained Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller, Chairwoman of the TRUMPF Group Executive Board. “They result, among other things, from strong economic impulses from China, which come from electronics applications and the demand for our lasers for electromobility.”
TRUMPF’s 2020/21 financials
Even though TRUMPF isn’t publicly-listed, thus it isn’t obliged to publish its financials in full, it does periodically release top-line figures to give the industry an indication of how well it’s performing. Within its provisional FY 2020/21 numbers, the company has revealed that it expects to have generated €3.5 billion in sales, which would place them exactly in line with those it achieved over the previous year.
Given the firm’s financial reporting structure, its 2019/20 fiscal year will have run from July 1 2019 to June 30 2020, meaning that it has therefore matched its numbers from a near pandemic-free year, while the top-end of TRUMPF’s €3.9 billion order projections for 2021/22, if converted, would also represent significant growth compared to the €3.7 billion it generated in the entirely pre-COVID FY 2018/19.
| Financials (€) | FY 2018/19 | FY 2019/20 | Variance (%) | FY 2019/20 | FY 2020/21 | Variance (%) |
| Sales Revenue | 3.8 bn | 3.5bn | -8 | 3.5bn | 3.5bn | – |
| Order Intake | 3.7 bn | 3.3 bn | -11 | 3.3 bn | 3.9 bn | +18% |
| Largest Market | 721m (Ger) | 610m (Ger) | -15 | 610m (Ger) | 580m (Ger) | -5 |
Geographically, Germany remained the company’s most lucrative market, with sales there accounting for €580 million worth of its orders. However, the boom in demand for TRUMPF’s lasers within the Chinese electromobility sector, has seen its revenue in the country hit €525 million, putting it ahead of the United States where it brought in around €485 million.
Over the last 12 months, the firm has also announced that its number of employees has risen to 14,800, with its German workforce accounting for 7,600 of these and 4,400 being based at its Ditzingen HQ, although it hasn’t said whether its team is operating at full capacity yet, after 27% of them became part-time last year.
3D printing-based growth?
While TRUMPF hasn’t provided a breakdown of its key revenue drivers for FY 2020/21, it’s possible that the firm was rewarded financially for its automotive 3D printing collaboration with Porsche in July last year. Working with MAHLE, the company 3D printed pistons for a 911 supercar, which were built to be ultra-lightweight and eventually added 30 bhp to its engine.
Of course, the company also markets a broad suite of lasers, cutting tools and machines, including its long-running 1000, 2000 and 5000 TruPrint 3D printers, which will each have brought in revenue. In the past, the TruPrint 2000 has found potential amorphous metal 3D printing applications, and Heraeus AMLOY is said to be working on standardizing these for the shop-floor.
Taking this compatibility-led approach further, TRUMPF unveiled the Truprint 3000 in March 2021, which is designed to handle all weldable materials: steels, nickel alloys, titaniums and aluminums alike. At the time, the firm’s MD Klaus Parey said that the machine had been built to help those operating in “multiple industries… move into mass production,” thus it too could be behind TRUMPF’s projected boom in orders.
Elsewhere, the firm has also made significant upgrades to its existing systems in order to boost their functionality, potential applications and ultimately their sales appeal, such as its AI-based Easy Order App for streamlining spare part printing, and ‘Multiplate’ function for the TruPrint 1000, that enables clients to produce up to 400 dental prosthetics at once.
TRUMPF’s tentative outlook
Although TRUMPF hasn’t published a financial outlook as such, its leadership has undergone significant changes over the last three months, which could impact on the company’s future direction. In April 2021, for instance, Marcella Montelatici was appointed as MD of Sales and Services in the firm’s Machine Tool Business Division, which was followed by Stephan Mayer being made CEO of Machine Tools.
Upon her appointment, Montelatici said that during her tenure, she would deliver on client priorities, helping them “find the right solution – whether it’s a fully automated system, digital upgrade or a classic stand-alone machine.” For her part, Leibinger-Kammüller has implied that these customers will now be easier to address after the upturn seen in TRUMPF’s key European markets, COVID-permitting of course.
“There’s an unmistakable upturn in the economy in Europe, which we are registering in the machine tool sector,” concluded Leibinger-Kammüller. “Nevertheless, uncertainty remains as to how the stability of global supply chains, and how the handling of the coronavirus pandemic will develop.”
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Featured image shows TRUMPF’s multi-laser system in action. Photo via TRUMPF.
