Buffer is melting

After a peak in orders: B&R now also has to make savings

Jörg Theis is Managing Director of B&R and now has to cut costs.(Bild: Markus Wenzel, Krone KREATIV)

Last year, B&R still needed additional shifts, for which extra employees were brought on board to cope with the high backlog of orders. Now the sputtering economic engine is also affecting the automation specialist from Eggelsberg. Read here how savings are being made.

"Good," replies Jörg Theis when you ask the head of B&R, based in Eggelsberg, how busy the automation specialist currently is. The company, which helped itself last year by working additional shifts at the weekend in order to clear the enormous backlog of orders, still has a cushion. However, the view to the future is also somewhat clouded at the company, which belongs to the ABB Group.

The automation specialist employs 3000 people in Eggelsberg.(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

B&R, which has its finger on the pulse of the times with its focus on automation for machines and systems, is also feeling the effects of the current economic situation. Consumer restraint combined with increased costs are causing companies to put projects on hold.

We are trying to motivate people to go on vacation. We are retaining employees and not introducing short-time working. That's how we're trying to get through this.

Jörg Theis, Geschäftsführer B&R

 "No crisis has ever lasted forever, this one will also pass," says Theis, who speaks of a "dip" that is now also being reflected in B&R's incoming orders: "It's becoming more and more volatile - you have to be prepared for that."

"Buffer will run out over the next few quarters"
"We still have a buffer, but it will run out over the next few quarters," said the B&R CEO, who recently informed employees. He let them know that the belt is now being tightened: "That's what you do at home when you realize that things aren't so rosy - you become a little more frugal," says Theis.

The boss is now also cutting back on business trips
For example, he is cutting back on business trips: "That affects me just as much." Other measures? "We're trying to motivate people to take vacation. That's how we try to get through the issue."