Langkampfen, 16 May 2019

Positive economic development at STIHL Tirol

Langkampfen,16th May 2019 – STIHL Tirol GmbH yet again continued its positive economic development in 2018. With an overall turnover of 385.7 million euros, it achieved the best results ever in the history of the company, despite extreme and long-lasting dry spells in spring 2018, which had a significant impact on both its European core market and its growth. The location in Langkampfen benefits from the momentum and attractiveness of the STIHL brand.

The number of employees working for STIHL Tirol also increased in 2018, with the total of 558 members of staff employed at the site in Langkampfen last year representing a moderate increase of 14 percent compared to 2017, perfectly in line with the course of business. This increase also means that STIHL Tirol has reached its highest number of employees to date. By building the new extension, the company was able to create an additional 150 new jobs. This larger workforce and the expansion of other company areas such as production and development clearly underline the fact that the STIHL Group is committed to its location in Tyrol.

The company's balance sheet total also increased in 2018, reaching an impressive 313 million euros. This represents a significant improvement of around 72 million euros in comparison with the balance sheet total achieved in 2017. Another noticeable increase occurred in the case of STIHL Tirol's equity capital, which rose from 117.5 million euros in 2017 to 182.2 million euros in 2018, with an equity ratio of 41 percent.

Despite climate-related challenges that affected the entire gardening tool sector, STIHL Tirol was able to make 2018 a healthy financial year. By investing in the extension, STIHL Tirol is now growing even more and continuing its positive development.

VIKING was renamed STIHL Tirol in July 2018 and the brand switch was successfully completed by the end of last year. The company is now reaping the economic benefits of this development, with the Tyrolean location providing STIHL with new markets and opportunities combined with a global perspective.

According to Clemens Schaller, Managing Director of STIHL Tirol GmbH, "As part of the STIHL Group, we operate with an international sales perspective. Our new extension has helped us to take an important step in this direction. The Langkampfen location stands out as a centre of excellence and production site with a wealth of experience. We are one of the most important employers in the region and our extension has enabled us to create 150 additional job vacancies, 65 of which were filled by the end of last year. We want to continue to strengthen our position in the future."

Investments in the centre of excellence and production site

The Langkampfen location plays a significant role within the STIHL Group, with STIHL Tirol serving as the group's centre of excellence for ground-based gardening tools, which are developed and produced on-site. The location benefits from the synergies within the group of companies and uses this close cooperation as a driving force for innovation. On top of this, the majority of its battery-powered and electrical products for the international market are manufactured in Austria, for example lawn mowers, robotic mowers, ride-on mowers, garden shredders, tillers and scarifiers.

"We make targeted investments in the quality assurance and modernisation of our production activities in order to meet the growing global demand for STIHL tools and STIHL battery-powered products in particular", explains Clemens Schaller, the Managing Director of STIHL Tirol GmbH.

The fact that the company boasts a wealth of positive experience, knowledge and expertise stretching back several decades underlines the high quality of research, development and construction at the site in Langkampfen. The international team relies on the solid specialist knowledge and skills of its over 600 employees. In order to maintain this high level of expertise in the future, STIHL Tirol is now already investing in comprehensive training for apprentices, including the creation of its very own modern apprentice workshop in the new extension.

The extension as a driving force for innovation

An opening ceremony on 1st February 2019 marked the inauguration of the company's largest single investment in the Langkampfen location to date. STIHL Tirol invested a total of 22.8 million euros in the extension, which covers an area of 20,000 m2. This demanding construction project was completed at impressive speed, with the new building taking a total of just 16 months to build and fully meeting the company's high quality specifications. It was not only finished on schedule but also remained within the planned budget.

"By building the extension, we are strengthening our development and production activities in Langkampfen. The STIHL Group relies on us as a centre of excellence and production site for ground-based gardening tools. Our new building is home to brand-new state-of-the-art equipment and production facilities", enthuses Josef Koller, who was not only involved in the extension as the Head of the Production and Market Supply Department but also as the Building Project Manager.

The extension offers a multitude of highlights. One of the special features of the building is its fully automated small parts warehouse, which is currently one of the most modern warehouse systems in Austria. The warehouse not only uses AutoStore technology for a huge increase in efficiency when it comes to logistics but has also implemented a space-saving solution for its storage area in the form of a shaft system with 47,000 containers.

A total of 17 robots are used in the small parts warehouse, the innovative design of which allows more robots to be added to the team as and when required.

The extension is also home to a modern electrical laboratory for STIHL iMow robotic mowers and endurance testing rooms, all of which boast state-of-the-art technology for even more efficiency. The green roof of the new building doubles as a 3,000m2 test area for the company's iMow robotic mowers. The production facilities for these lawn mowers and other ground-based gardening tools were also expanded as part of the extension. On top of all this, an indoor endurance testing facility that will allow test runs to be carried out 24 hours a day is currently being constructed. The facility additionally boasts particularly efficient test rig control systems that simplify data collection procedures and make working processes even easier. The indoor endurance testing facility will be put into operation soon.

150 new jobs and future-oriented apprenticeships

STIHL Tirol is one of the most important employers in the local region. With its new extension, the company not only increased in size but was also able to create an additional 150 new jobs. The experience of the staff at the Langkampfen location forms an important foundation for its further development as a centre of excellence and production site, which is why the company is committed to continuously developing and promoting knowledge and expertise in the Tyrolean location. By doing so, it not only strengthens its position in the global market but also has a positive impact on the local region.

At the end of 2018, STIHL Tirol yet again received recognition for its training and promotion of young talents by maintaining its status as an "outstanding apprenticeship provider in Tyrol" (ausgezeichneter Tiroler Lehrbetrieb). This seal of approval from the Tyrolean State Government requires its holders to meet strict high standards, including a specific quota of successfully passed final apprenticeship examinations and attractive additional activities and opportunities for apprentices.

In fact, with its "Lehre mit Matura" (apprenticeship leading to a university entrance qualification) training model, which provides targeted support for personal development and bonuses for excellent performance at the vocational school, STIHL Tirol's training options even exceed these high standards.

STIHL Tirol is always on the lookout for committed individuals who want to join the team at one of the region's most innovative companies. The gardening tool manufacturer is currently looking for motivated applicants for positions in the areas of production, logistics, quality management, technical procurement and product development. STIHL Tirol places high value on providing secure and attractive jobs and further education and training opportunities for its employees and supporting and promoting their development in a targeted manner.

Outstanding energy efficiency

STIHL Tirol is a company with a direct connection to nature and therefore has a strong tradition of acting and working in an environmentally conscious manner. The Langkampfen-based company has been impressively pursuing a proactive environmental policy and intensively exploring the possibilities of sustainability strategies for many years. The gardening tool manufacturer takes its responsibility for the environment very seriously by taking an ecological approach to energy consumption.

This approach is noticeable in the company's day-to-day operations on several levels, for example the energy-efficient design of its entire production facilities and the switch to LED lighting, which has already been implemented in numerous departments. As a result, the site in Langkampfen saves more than 50,000 kWh of electricity every year and therefore also saves a large amount of CO2. STIHL Tirol was presented with the "klimaaktiv" award by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Sustainability (BMNT) in recognition of this achievement at the end of November 2018.

Company history

1981   Founding of VIKING GmbH

1992   VIKING becomes a STIHL Group company

2001   Relocation of the company headquarters from the Austrian town of Kufstein to the Competence Centre for Gardening Tools in Langkampfen

2007   The first expansion of the VIKING plant

2012   The second expansion of the plant to provide additional floor space

2018   Alongside the third, and even larger, expansion of the plant, the company is renamed STIHL Tirol GmbH and switches brands

2019   The extension is officially inaugurated

Product range

Battery-powered and electrical products such as chainsaws, hedge trimmers and other gardening tools like lawn mowers, robotic mowers and garden shredders.

Information about STIHL Tirol
STIHL Tirol GmbH is a wholly owned subsidiary of the STIHL Group and is based in Langkampfen, Austria. Cordless products are produced at this site and STIHL Tirol is also a centre of excellence for ground-based gardening tools, which are produced and co-developed in Langkampfen. In 2018, the company employed 558 people.

STIHL company profile
The STIHL Group develops, manufactures and distributes motorised equipment for forestry, agriculture, landscape management, the building industry and private garden owners. The product range is supplemented with digital solutions and services. Products are generally distributed through specialist dealers – including 38 sales and marketing STIHL subsidiaries, around 120 importers and more than 50,000 specialist dealers in over 160 countries. STIHL manufactures products in seven countries worldwide: Germany, USA, Brazil, Switzerland, Austria, China and the Philippines. STIHL has been the best-selling chainsaw brand worldwide since 1971. The company was founded in 1926 and the corporate headquarters are in Waiblingen near Stuttgart, Germany. In 2018, STIHL had 17,122 employees worldwide and a turnover of € 3.78 billion

Your contact for further questions

STIHL Tirol GmbH
Mag. Christian Dag
Hans Peter Stihl-Straße 5
A-6336 Langkampfen
Tel.: +43 (0) 5372 6972 267
Email: christian.dag@stihl.at