05.06.2018

On Course for Growth

Fiscal Year 2017 of the Blanco Professional Group

This year, the Blanco Professional Group successfully continued its realignment and looks to the future with optimism. As a system supplier in the B2B sector for commercial kitchens and industry with 698 employees, Blanco Professional achieved a consolidated turnover of 124 million euros in 2017, compared to 119.8 million euros the previous year, with an export share of around 40 percent. This turnover was generated by the four business units Catering, Medical, Industrial and Railway. Turnover increased by 3.5 percent in comparison to the previous year.

Based on a consistent “customer first” approach, Blanco Professional offers flexible, modular product systems and services on an international scale. Efficient, digitally supported workflow management and effective customer relationship management, which above all focuses on close collaboration with trade, form the backbone of the company's successful development across all business units.

With its turnkey solutions for the Blanco Cook front cooking system, the Catering business unit made a crucial contribution to offering tailored answers to individual customer demands in 2017. The Blanco Cook solutions are representative of the customer relationship management concept established by Blanco Professional. The market is reacting positively to the realignment. This is reflected by the many prizes presented to the group, including two first-place awards as “Best Partner 2018/2019” in the categories of “Front Cooking” and “Logistics” in the commercial kitchen specialist trade, among others.

The Industrial business unit witnessed further growth in 2017. Several large projects were initiated, CCPM project management developed steadily and demand from a diverse range of customer segments continued to grow. The Industrial business unit is planning to further expand its business during the current year.

The Railway business unit significantly amplified its customer base. Several series launches for large projects took place in 2017, with more planned for 2018. Collaborative partnerships were also established. A particular highlight of 2017 was participating in the “Ideenzug” (“Idea Train”) project with Deutsche Bahn. The Railway business unit is represented by two modules in the “Ideenzug”.

Blanco Professional's significantly enhanced brand image has also played a crucial role in this positive business development. The strategic expansion of the corporate brand includes the introduction of brand ambassadors, entertaining moving-image formats and presentation videos. Further amplification of the brand profile is planned and will include the intensification of activities already started on social media.

Chief Executive Officer Roland Spleiss gives an extremely positive summary of the 2017 fiscal year and the completed process of realignment. “With these profound changes, we have created a solid basis for sustainable growth in the future. For our customers, we are a tangible solutions provider and are positioning ourselves with a clear corporate culture that unites tradition and practised values to develop a communal, agile mindset.”

The location of Oberderdingen is also set to play a key role in the future and has been further bolstered through an investment offensive. In the next three years, Blanco Professional will invest 30 million euros in the production network, with 20 million euros exclusively allocated to the headquarters in Oberderdingen, most of which will be used for the value stream-oriented realignment of production.