After 15 years

FACC

FACC CEO Robert Machtlinger.

(Bild: Wenzel Markus)

Demand for aircraft is on the rise, which means that FACC's order books are full. Nevertheless, the Innviertel-based company is also putting the brakes on costs. Inventories are being reduced and production processes made more efficient. And savings are also being made elsewhere. The company's birthday present to its employees in the form of a day off on their special day was cut short.

Since 2010, FACC employees have had a day off on their birthday. "We see this not only as a voluntary social benefit, but also as an act of appreciation for the commitment and dedication of each individual team member," said Robert Machtlinger in December 2017, commenting on this gift from the aircraft supplier, which cannot be taken for granted.

However, this extra day has now fallen victim to the efficiency improvement and optimization programme. "Due to the immense increases in personnel costs, some of which are twice as high as in neighboring countries, we have decided to no longer implement the free birthday. That's 4000 working days that we gave away and that we were happy to give away. That was important to us, but it's no longer possible," says Machtlinger. As of January 1, 2025, the FACC birthday present will therefore be history. "The workforce understands this," emphasizes the manager, who has been at the helm of the company since 2016.

We have built up a large workforce, almost 1,000 employees in two years. We have invested a lot in building up new specialists, all of whom have a learning curve that is now starting to take effect. We want to be able to handle the next 100 million euros in sales growth with almost the same workforce.

Robert Machtlinger, Vorstandschef der FACC

The increase in personnel has also been curbed. After taking on almost 1,000 employees in the last two years, we are now relying on the learning curves of the new specialists to take effect in such a way that we can take the next step in sales growth with almost the same workforce.

"Working on every nook and cranny"
In addition to reducing warehouse capacity, the efficiency of production processes is also being improved. The supplier network is being optimized to reduce costs. "We are working on every nook and cranny to simply position ourselves better and to compensate for the locational disadvantages that we all have in the best possible way," says Machtlinger.

Profit after tax at 5.2 million euros after three quarters
FACC increased its revenue to EUR 642.6 million in the first three quarters of the 2024 financial year. In the same period of 2023, revenue amounted to EUR 513.9 million. The sharp rise in location costs put pressure on earnings. The aircraft supplier generated a profit after tax of just EUR 5.2 million.