Playmobil: Geobra Brandstätter achieves eighth record year in a row

PLAYMOBIL sees worldwide growth in all markets in 2007 - investments ensure product quality and jobs in Germany

Renowned Franconian toy manufacturer geobra Brandstätter (www.playmobil.de) was able to sustain the continued positive results of recent years in 2007. The strategic goal of achieving a high, one-figure turnover plus internationally with the premium brand PLAYMOBIL was exceeded significantly with a worldwide growth of 12.5 percent. The new LECHUZA brand saw a 79 percent increase in sales. Group turnover rose by 14 percent to 459 million €, these being record results for the eighth year in a row. The traditional family company has been able to almost double its overall sales volumes within ten years.

Advert

PLAYMOBIL - Made in Europe
PLAYMOBIL´s four state-of-the-art production plants in Europe are its trump card as a manufacturer and provide the guarantee for the outstanding quality and safety of PLAYMOBIL toys. Significant investments in the optimization of the operating procedures and extensive automation mean that the plants are able to produce effectively and profitably.

The German production site in Dietenhofen, modernized with investments amounting to over 150 million euros in recent years and elected as "Selected Location in the Country of Ideas 2007", covers approximately 60 percent of PLAYMOBIL´s production and is the worldwide dispatch center. No further construction measures are planned for 2008 for the plant in central Franconia, which is among one of the largest toy manufacturing sites in Europe. An increase in capacity is to be achieved by the step-by-step conversion to a 5-shift system. This means that production can run around the clock, seven days a week and the existing production units, especially the approximately 350 injection molding machines, can be utilized to the full.

The assembly plant in the Czech Republic employed approx. 160 staff members over the past year for the production of pre-bags and components for product packaging/end production/supply in Dietenhofen. A number of packaging-intensive finished products (advent calendars) were also produced in Cheb in 2007. An extension of the production area by an additional almost 4,000 sq. meters is currently under construction in order to keep pace with the trend towards labor-intensive packaging.

No construction work is planned for the established Malta plant in 2008. With targeted investment in state-of-the-art automation technology, this modern, approx. 35,000 sq. meter plant is intended to further increase productivity and cover capacity peaks through the defined allocation of labor resources.

Around 100 million PLAYMOBIL figures in approx. 600 versions saw the light of day in Malta in 2007. That is a record to date. Due to 2008´s very figure-intensive new products, these volumes are set to be exceeded during the current year. The plant is dimensioned for the production of approx. 130 million figures.

The focus in the Spanish plant continues to be on a number of selected finished products to meet worldwide demand, as well as bags, bundles and components for the other production plants.

Eployee and Group Sales Volumes Expansion
Overall turnover for the Brandstätter Group rose in 2007 by a healthy 14 percent or from 402 million € to 459 million €. These new record levels of overall sales are the result of substantial entrepreneurial efforts on the part of owner Horst Brandstätter and his team.

An annual average of 2,861 employees worldwide produced these pleasing results in 2007. The number of employees rose by 140 over the previous year (2,721). In Germany the 2007 payroll comprised a total of 1,522 employees (1,505 in the previous year). The introduction of a seven day week in Dietenhofen will mean the successive creation of a further 100 jobs.

Photo: Playmobil Novelty 2008 – “Egypt”

Geobra Brandstätter GmbH & Co. KG, Zirndorf, Germany

back to news list