PWO Group expands toolmaking capacities in eastern Europe as part of its growth strategy

Carlo Lazzarini (CEO): “Our German and other European customers have significantly stepped up their presence in eastern Europe in recent years and are continuing to do so. The establishment of a subsidiary in Serbia and this capacity expansion lay the groundwork for harnessing further growth potential in eastern Europe in the future.”

Oberkirch / Valašské Meziříčí / Kitchener / Puebla / Suzhou / July 3, 2023 – The PWO Group is continuing to expand its market position and is focusing on profitable growth. Our sustainable business model, which is entirely independent of combustion engines, makes us a popular partner among our customers. We are delighted to see the a continuous strong increase in demand for our products from eastern Europe. As announced in June 2022, our Czech locations will not be able to meet this demand on a long-term basis despite considerable expansion investment, and so we need another location in eastern Europe.

Enjoying particularly attractive conditions, Serbia has become a key location for the European mobility industry in recent years. Almost all of our major Tier I customers now have production sites in the country, are continuing to expand their presence, and need our solutions to supply their eastern-European locations there.

This is why we purchased assets of the established tool manufacturer Gorenje MDM d.o.o. in Kragujevac, Serbia, and as of July 1, 2023, we hired around 60 specialists from the company, which is in liquidation for strategic reasons. We acquired equipment for developing, constructing, manufacturing and testing of tools for sheet metal cold forming.

With this investment, our company is establishing itself in a region with almost 200 years of industrial history and in close proximity to other highly specialized suppliers to the mobility industry. Gorenje MDM d.o.o. has more than 70 years of experience in tools development and toolmaking, and its customers include leading names in the international mobility industry.

In Kragujevac, we will develop, manufacture and test powerful tools for sheet metal cold forming as part of our global toolmaking strategy. Using the latest materials, we will focus on intelligent tools for Industry 4.0 applications and the smart factory of the future. By doing so, we aim to serve a specific external customer base as well as a significant portion of our rapidly growing in-house demand at competitive conditions.

PWO Group
The Executive Board

Contact:
Charlotte Frenzel
Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
+49 179 / 6904 237