Witron earnings rise 6.2 percent on demand for material handling systems

Material handling design and systems supplier Witron Logistik + Informatik GmbH said Friday it earned $600 million dollars in fiscal year 2017, a 6.2 percent increase over last year that the company attributed to rising demand in its store, online, and omnichannel business lines.

Parkstein, Germany-based Witron said the growth was the result of a surge in orders from regular and new customers from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain, the Benelux countries, Scandinavia, and North America.

To handle the increased demand, the firm said it has hired 300 staff members, growing to more than 3,100 people worldwide, and has expanded its German headquarters to 108,000 square feet to allow for ramped up production, storage, and offices.

Witron also recorded growth in its service division, Witron Logistics Operation Service, which provides turnkey solutions for customers ranging from help desk queries to the complete functional responsibility as a system operator and logistics service provider (LSP), according to Christian Dietl, CEO of Witron Service GmbH + Co. KG.

One recent customer was Migros, a Swiss retail and supermarket chain that operates a highly automated national distribution center serving its 600 grocery stores and 300 convenience stores.