SHAPING THE FUTURE – The Lenze Annual Report 2020/2021

In 2020 we set our course at an early stage in order to profitably take advantage of the improving economy and to move ahead with the transformation of Lenze. We continue to focus our portfolio and strengthen our competencies in factory automation. In this context, we sold the Mobile Drives division.

The capital investment expenditures for sites, production facilities, and machinery show that we are making a clear commitment to the future. We concentrate our mechatronics expertise in the Mechatronic Competence Campus (MCC) at the Extertal site. Construction is increasingly taking shape and we were recently able to pass an important milestone with the completion of the logistics hall. The Lenze technology used in the project underscores our strength in the area of intralogistics. With our Munich Forum at the Garching site, we have created a center that functions as a showroom and platform for our German and international automation customers and partners, and also strengthens the expansion of our sales in southern Germany.

Our solid financial base allows us to continue to exploit growth opportunities in our target regions of Europe, China, and the USA and to steadily expand our systems business. For example, we have opened a logistics center at our U.S. headquarters in Uxbridge as a hub for this important growth region. Lenze is also showing here that we see ourselves as shapers who are always one step ahead when it comes to the future of automation technology.

Our customers need end-to-end digitalized processes and applications – and we help them to strengthen their leading role worldwide. We are a strong partner that works with mechanical and plant engineers on the digital transformation path and on the development of new digital business models. To this end, we are continually building up and increasing our digital expertise and addressing the topics of IIoT, Industrie 4.0, and Smart Services. The laying of the foundation stone for the Digital Hub Industry in the Fall of 2020 marked the creation of an innovation center in Bremen, where we will work with the University of Bremen to advance future business models for digitalization and automation.

The basis for continuous engineering throughout the entire life cycle of a machine is the Digital Twin. Its data provides more in-depth information, which is fundamental for the commissioning, maintenance, and managing of a machine. To fully exploit the benefits of the Digital Twin, we are looking for an alliance between all participants – component suppliers and automation providers, mechanical engineers, and plant operators. We promote standards that enable the exchange of data between all applications. To this end, we are also on the Executive Board of the Industrial Digital Twin Association (IDTA), which was founded in March 2021 and is the central point of contact for everything to do with the industrial Digital Twin. We continuously invest in the further development of our portfolio and in financial year 2020/2021 we mainly launched Industrie 4.0 innovations that made use of the Digital Twin.

Thinking and acting sustainably has been a guiding principle for us ever since our company was founded in 1947 – with the expectation that we would become better from year to year. This is how we support our employees, are socially committed, and keep an eye on the environment. As a family-run business, sustainable management and energy efficiency are of particular concern to us.

We are convinced that, as an automation expert, we will deliver special added value if we continue to invest in energy-efficient products and systems. Our innovation projects let us make a significant contribution to reducing the energy consumption of machines and thus to measurably reducing the carbon footprint in production.

We are ideally positioned to handle the global challenges – this is ensured by our strategic focus on factory automation, our cooperative “One Lenze Culture,” and our willingness to change. And last but not least, this is a great credit to our employees worldwide. As the management team, we would therefore like to thank everyone warmly. Special thanks also go to our customers and partners. We measure ourselves by your success. Each day, we give everything to ensure this, because by working together with you, we shape the future today.