the optima packaging group gmbh germany has completed the fiscal year 2014 with a growth in performance of around 10 percent. consolidated turnover for the company is over &euro 330 million showing positive development during over the previous year and which is expected to continue smoothly.over 85 percent of the packaging machines of this company, with registered headquarters in schwäbisch hall, are sold, as in the previous year, abroad. the company employs 1,900 people worldwide, 1,400 of which work in schwäbisch hall. in comparison with the previous year, the number of employees worldwide rose by almost 6. today some 300 persons work at 13 international locations.with its four business divisions pharma, consumer, nonwovens and life science, optima offers branch solutions in packaging and processing fields. &ldquothere are considerably larger mechanical engineering companies but only a few of these can offer a comparable spectrum of individual technological solutions&ldquo, according to hans bühler, executive director of optima. he recognizes the essential strengths which can lead the company to expect further positive business development also for the coming years. &ldquoour capacity for 2015 confirms the ongoing growth trend. in particular in the usa we expect further revitalization on the grounds of economic recovery&rdquo.good perspectives for optimaaccording to mr. bühler &ldquooptima is structured as totally flexible, such that all the competitive advantages of one field can be incorporated and utilized as appropriate in other fields, where and when applicable&rdquo. new service technologies such as conditionoriented maintenance of machines and digital replacement parts catalogues with additional information and video instructions provide further examples of developments. the same applies to customer enquiries which in some cases can only be solved through interdisciplinary cooperation. at regular intervals, optima brings packaging innovations onto the market in february for example, a new integrated packaging plant technology was introduced whereby carton packaging can be produced, filled and closed on one line. the benefits in terms of efficiency of logistics are enormous when taken into account that empty packages must no longer be transported and stored.in 2015 at optima, plans to begin a major investment in its&rsquo infrastructure so that purchasing, materials management and logistics departments can be centralized in schwäbisch hall. at present, the company is undertaking a workshop expansion of 1,000 m² in order to expand the nonwovens manufacturing area. in 2014 major investments were made primarily in the purchase of the latest metal processing lines and software solutions.the company currently has around 170 apprentices and trainees, 150 of which are in germany, and of those, 142 in schwäbisch hall. training at international locations is undertaken in close cooperation with the training center in schwäbisch hall and internships on site. business administration trainees from schwäbisch hall are deployed to an overseas location for a specified time . in this way, potential talent is given the opportunity to discover other countries and cultures. this is of ever increasing importance for globally active companies.in 2014 there were also, of course, considerations in respect of &ldquosocial aspects of entrepreneurial action&ldquo on the part of the executive management and also on the part of many optima employees. as is tradition, numerous local and international projects were supported again including médecins sans frontières, the german bone marrow donor center dkms and also robotics for schoolchildren.global comparisonsthe usa remain the most important single market for optima. 21 percent of turnover is attained here. 40 percent of overall sales are achieved in the european market 14 percent in asia. in respect of overall sales, the russiaukraine crisis has hardly had an effect on the company. it is conspicuous that at present there are no decisions being made on offers tendered. in certain segments the market in africa continues to show new prospects for optima.in february 2014 the german engineering association vdma reported intact global economy in net terms. despite various geopolitical crises, worldwide economic performance has increased by 3.3. countries with emerging and developing markets show diverse figures whereas brazil was disappointing 0.1 india surprised with a growth rate of 5.8. in the eu the gross domestic product rose by 1.4, the us economy on the other hand, by 2.4. in china there was a real growth of 7.4.in the year 2014, the german machinery & plant engineering industry increased by 2 percent. even though in the last few years the packaging machine industry developed on the whole at a better rate than that of the machine industry in general, growth and business prospects for optima are even more gratifying. for 2015 the international monetary fund imf expects a moderate economic growth in real terms of 3.5 percent. economists are especially confident in respect of development in the united states with a gdp increase of 3.6 percent. source &ldquovdma current state of the machine engineering sector&rdquo, estimates status on 3rd february 2015
