PADERBORN, Germany - Wincor Nixdorf International is focusing more attention on the United States and Asia, and it's making big investments to do it.
During a press briefing Jan. 30 - the opening of the company's annual products and solutions fair known as Wincor World - Eckard Heidloff, Wincor's new chief executive, said Wincor over the last seven years has doubled its employee pool. The company now has nearly 8,000 employees, 850 of which were added last year.
"It's all part of our plan for a comprehensive servicing business and solution, and it's also because of our international growth," Heidloff said.
Wincor is focusing on solutions and service to support its growth, an effort to expand the company's image from being strictly a product provider or "box-mover." To that end, Heidloff said Wincor increased its investment in research and development by 12 percent in FY '06/'07.
In the United States, the focus is on the banking market. In Asia, more attention is being paid to retail.
Wincor expects the U.S. banking market over the next few years to grow between 3 percent and 7 percent. In Asia the growth is expected to be between 7 percent and 12 percent. The company also anticipates the U.S. retail market to increase between 4 percent and 6 percent, while in Asia that market is expected to increase between 8 percent and 12 percent.
Overall, Wincor's banking and retail divisions saw net sales growth during fiscal year 2005/2006 of 15 percent and 8 percent, respectively.
"We're thinking globally but acting locally," Heidloff said. "But to grow locally, we want to have a strong presence in those local markets. We want management there; we want service there."
Wincor now maintains a presence through partners in 56 countries and has subsidiaries in 34.
A year to look ahead
With more than 2,000 visitors from around the world in attendance during Wincor World's opening day, former CEO Karl-Heinz Stiller said he sees the progress Wincor has made since its formation seven years ago. He said Wincor today is truly a global company.
"We've had a very clear strategy," he said during his opening address Jan. 31. "Last year, for the seventh time in a row, we have had a record fiscal year. We exceeded our own forecast, and we expect that to continue."
