German machinery and plant manufacturer Dieffenbacher earned nearly Euro 400 million in sales in 2021 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 a 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. We served our customers just as well as in the times before the pandemic, and that makes me very proud of our team,” said CEO Christian Dieffenbacher. “Each of our three business units—Wood, Forming and Recycling—performed well and received significant new orders from customers.”
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-fiber insulation boards and plants that deploy advanced environmental technology solutions for greater sustainability.
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. Another highlight was an order for an innovative plant concept for producing insulating boards from polyurethane waste.
As part of its new CEBRO smart plant concept, Dieffenbacher introduced in September the digital platform called EVORIS. EVORIS gives manufacturers more insight into their production and processes. AI-supported analysis of live data is just one way that EVORIS helps plant operators better understand and control their plants and make important decisions faster. Along with EVORIS, CEBRO supports advanced plant engineering solutions, operational excellence and sustainability initiatives. First developed for the Wood business unit, CEBRO and EVORIS will successively be available to Dieffenbacher Forming and Recycling customers in 2022.
Dieffenbacher expects to close 2021 with sales of nearly Euro 400 million. “We want to gradually expand this to over Euro 500 million over the next few years,” said Christian Dieffenbacher. “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.”
