Beckhoff Automation has recorded sales of €1.17 billion in the 2024 financial year. This represents a significant decline of 33 percent compared to the 2023 annual result of €1.75 billion. At the Hannover Messe, company founder Hans Beckhoff emphasized that this decline in sales was expected, as an exaggerated 'boom' development was observed in previous years. For example, cumulative growth of over 80 percent was achieved in the three years from 2021 to 2023. This exaggerated development was followed by a significant market correction in 2024. “This is my sixth crisis in 45 years of business and almost all of them have followed a very similar pattern,” the managing owner explains. “You can be sure that there will be a recovery, but you have to tackle the crisis head-on and see it as an opportunity for innovation and optimization.” The company already considers the downturn to have bottomed out. As a basis for future growth, the family-run technology company from Verl continues to rely on continuous new developments and high-tech engineering.
Beckhoff is investing €80 million in research and development
The manufacturer employs around 5,300 people worldwide, including some 2,000 engineers, who provide the basis for its innovative strength with their technological expertise. Numerous new product launches are planned in all areas of software and PC-based control technology. “We are intent on further expanding our position as a global automation technology company. We remain dedicated to our mission of evolving our portfolio with strong developments every year and introducing revolutionary new technology every five to seven years,” says Hans Beckhoff.
For this purpose, the company consistently invests €80 million in research and development every year. For example, 105 new MX modules are planned for the control cabinet-free MX system this year alone. The company has also entered the vision segment. Its portfolio here already includes cameras, lighting and software. The camera family is to be expanded in the near future to include versions between eight and 24 megapixels.
Strengthening of global presence
Beckhoff is represented in over 75 countries with subsidiaries, representative offices and distributors. The company is investing in a targeted way in its local market presence and is strengthening its global position in growth markets and sustainable future markets, such as electrical systems for power supply. Beckhoff supplies intelligent automation and measurement technology for energy distribution, transmission and storage, for both the recording of all energy flows and the control of energy systems.
Beckhoff sees positive market signals, especially from China
The uncertain global political situation also presents the company with challenges for the coming year. However, incoming orders are currently showing signs of recovery. “Our customers’ warehouses are slowly emptying and we expect them to have used up their extra stocks by the first quarter of 2025, at the latest,” predicts Hans Beckhoff. A sales increase of around ten percent to €1.3 billion is expected for 2025. Above all, a recovery is emerging in the Chinese market. Beckhoff has been able to acquire new customers in China and expects strong demand impulses from the largest automation market in the world.
“Automation is an important basic technology in many areas of life and society - we benefit from it, but we also make a significant contribution to it,” explains Hans Beckhoff. Overall, he is positive about the future and emphasizes: ”We love automation and we keep having good ideas for pushing its performance limits or making it simpler and cheaper. This puts us in a great position to compete globally!”
Beckhoff product highlights at the Hannover Messe
At the Hannover Messe, Beckhoff presented exciting new developments in all its product areas. Highlights include the new multi-touch panels and Industrial PCs of the next generation, which are expected to be available from the fall. The new generation of operating panels offers improved user-friendliness for intuitive and safe operation. The modern, cost-optimized series further expand the wide variety of the Beckhoff portfolio and represent a future-proof panel platform through the integration of new standards. The new solutions for energy measurement technology for precise measurement and analysis of energy consumption are another focus. In the software area, new machine learning solutions are available, as is a new PLC generation in the Twincat system with “Twincat PLC++”.
