An unexpected increase in sales during the months of June and July mean that the Sweden-headquartered premium off-highway machinery attachments maker is now overseeing extra efforts to produce and fulfil the delivery of additional orders.
Engcon, like many companies, was affected when Covid-19 struck with full force in the spring. As well as impacting sales, the company was forced to cancel and return early from this year's largest construction trade show CONEXPO, in Las Vegas, USA. Engcon is known for its good financial management and immediately acted with a package of measures, that included cost savings, budget adjustments and prioritising efforts to streamline processes and working practices. However, this summer's sales figures were better than expected, which meant ramping up production to meet the increase in customer orders.
"For us, it is of the utmost importance to run the company in a serious and long-term way. In uncertain times, we do what we can to minimise the effects if it should be a worst-case scenario," says Krister Blomgren, CEO of Engcon Holding.
He continues: "But it turned out pretty soon that despite the pandemic, many excavator operators around the world continued their work with maintenance of railways, highways, forestry and building structures. We know that our products contribute to socially beneficial activities and these priorities around the world have, therefore, of course, been favourable for us as a company. This is a strong contributing factor to our positive sales figures".
In total, Engcon Group sales dropped by approximately 14% from January to July 2020, compared with the same period last year, while sales increased by 18% in the non-Nordic markets.
Blomgren continues: "What you have to remember is that it is the other markets that are growing at a higher rate right now. Meanwhile, sales remain sluggish in our normally stronger markets here in the Nordic region."
However, Engcon has seen greater caution around larger investments, but at the same time can see that many excavator operators barely have time available for all their assignments right now. Those who can afford it are thus making the smart move to invest in an economic downturn to prepare for the upturn.
"Investing in a tiltrotator makes digging considerably more efficient, which means extra capacity to catch up with more jobs in hectic times. It is wise to equip the business, regardless of whether you are a local excavation company or a large global corporation," says Blomgren.
Engcon has prioritised a number of activities to develop the business further and come out stronger on the other side of the pandemic.
"For example, we have just chosen a supplier for a new business system, as part of a decision we made over a year ago. Our strategy is to streamline our processes and make smart investments to become even better. This summer's sales have been good, and we are cautiously optimistic, even though we have not heard the latest about Covid-19 yet," Blomgren concludes.
The markets where sales rose significantly during the year were North America (USA and Canada), Denmark, the United Kingdom and Australia.
