WINCOR WORLD: Global innovation, automation are targets for Wincor Nixdorf

PADERBORN, Germany — Wincor Nixdorf International's chief executive says innovation and automation are helping his company improve efficiency and optimize functions for retailers and bankers throughout the world.

 

CEO Eckard Heidloff, during his opening address at Wincor World, said Wincor Nixdorf's cash-management systems, services, hardware and software are changing the way businesses do business, and it's a change that's catching on, on a global scale.

 

"Innovation is one of our key growth drivers," Heidloff said. "Wincor World showcases our innovation, which includes examples from international customer projects as well as new and on-going project developments."

 

Touting its relationship with two top U.S. banks, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, Heidlofff said Wincor Nixdorf is having an impact in the American market — a market the company is heavily targeting. From there, Heidloff says the company plans to leverage its strength and experience in the Americas to grow its business in Asia-Pacific — another target.

 

Developing markets also are a target, hence the company's attendee list, which includes some 7,000 bankers and retailers from more than 80 countries. The show is obviously different this year, most attendees agree. The showroom's layout is more open, with strong connections between banking and retail solutions made obvious for spectators. The hallways are packed, and show organizers say they expect this year's exhibitor and attendee totals to show marked increases from previous years.

 

Over the last five years, the company's overall net sales have increased 10 percent, with strong growth from markets outside Germany. To date, only 27 percent of Wincor Nixdorf's business now comes from Germany. And while Europe remains the company's largest market, growth in the United States and China is having an impact, Heidloff says. Wincor Nixdorf's market share in the United States has grown from 3 percent to 5 percent. The goal, he says, is 10 percent.

First-quarter sales for fiscal year 2007/2008 show that the company is staying the course. In Europe, first-quarter sales were up 15 percent. In Asia-Pacific and Africa, sales were up 14 percent. Sales were up 16 percent in the Americas — double-digit growth.

 

"We haven't had any major acquisitions in the last five years," Heidloff said. "Our growth has been primarily organic, and we're constantly working to cut costs. We are improving our processes, and we expect to see our growth continue."

 

In addition to cash management and services, IT solutions, branch automation and Wincor Nixdorf's ProClassic/Enterprise Retail Banking Solution Suite, on the banking side, also are a focus. ProClassic/Enterprise is a modular software portfolio that maps customer consulting and business and transaction processing at a bank, and includes IT aspects such as infrastructure, security, optimization and management. The software solution on the retail side, TP.net, has been enhanced with new functions for international companies in retail-like segments such as post offices and service stations. On the retail side, TP.net is the software focus. TPEnterprise is a suite of solutions for the central management of a retail company's store landscape. It includes two software packages that can be used independently to administer business processes and IT management within a retail location.