2017 record year for EAS
EAS shows astonishing results on its road to further globalization
EAS 2017 Results
Even before the end of the final quarter of 2017 the EAS sales force had raked in an order value of € 12.500.000. After a drop in the second and third quarter of 2016, EAS surprised friend and foe closing the year with surprisingly high figures. Before the start of December, 2017 already surpassed those figures. Contribution to the growth came from all branches, each and every one realizing a higher order intake than the year before.
The biggest growth (+50%) was achieved by EAS China. The first mold change tables from our local production lines were sold on the domestic market. The pipeline forecasts more interesting projects in the near future. To intensify our Asian sales effort, last year our sales force has been doubled. An investment that starts to pay off.
EAS USA, France, MED and Europe have all done slightly better compared to 2016. A new key account requested specially tailored systems. A challenge that has put its pressure on our R&D department, but with an exceptional effort we have lived up to our reputation, delivering a turnkey QMC solution with fully integrated controls suitable for multiple brands of injection molding machines.
Joined efforts with our European distributors has increased the turnover in England and Belgium.
And last, but not least, EAS USA has made strong progress. A complete horizontal loading system was sold in December 2016, quickly followed by a second at the start of 2017. Together with strong multi coupler sales, we have made an important breakthrough for our North American sales potential.
Thierry Pastor, Vice President and Director of Operations says: “Bringing these mold change tables to our customers on time has been a huge effort this year. It started with an overloaded engineering department, pushed our material management department to the maximum and stretched the project managers to great lengths. Thanks to all involved for making these orders a success and our customers happy!”
Further globalization
“Expansion is one of the most difficult things to manage for a company. After working through some issues caused by our strong growth in 2015 and the start of 2016, we decided to ensure financial stability and thus job stability” explains Vincent Nijzink, CEO of EAS change systems. He continues “Our heartfelt thanks go out to all team members for putting in the time and effort and going above and beyond to get all orders out on time.”
With all this in mind, of course we did not remain idle on the staffing front. Over the year we have added new positions: engineering staff in the Netherlands and France, a service technician in the US, a logistical planner in the Netherlands and a purchase engineer in China.
We have followed through on the implementation of a companywide engineering planning. Our engineers and drafters in China and France have taken on a lot of new products and responsibilities. At the same time standardization and constant improvements have increased our flexibility and reduced engineering times. Taking into account the added capacity at various locations, this should result in reducing overall lead times and a higher service level for our customers.
At board level in 2017 Vice President Thierry Pastor moved from China to the Netherlands and CEO Vincent Nijzink relocated to the US. This year we made enormous progress in adjusting the way we work to the dynamic and ever-changing marketplace.
2018
For 2018 EAS expects further growth. The global markets are strong and automation is picking up in the biggest global growth markets such as China, India and Mexico. The organization will continue to expand the sales staff, first and foremost in Asia and the USA, together with an expansion of service capacity. The markets of QMC and QDC offer many opportunities for EAS. R&D will focus on adding onto our existing product lines, with necessary developments in mold/die change tables and cars to strengthen our competitive position.
Our new US headquarters in Greenville, South Carolina should be up and running before the end of March. The new location provides us with excellent access to one of the fastest growing plastic regions in the US and allows easier access to the Mexican market. The office in Milwaukee will continue as a sales office from where EAS will serve the North of the US and Canada.
More information http://easchangesystems.com/about-eas
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