Schmidbauer sets course for expanding its business

Regardless of the investment, Schmidbauer will remain an independent company in the future, but will have unrestricted access to SUMIDA’s international development, production and sales network as part of its ‘Power Industry’ division. The long-established Hebertsfelden site will be retained in the long term. Nothing will change for Schmidbauer’s customers for the time being – also the contact persons will remain the same. The Schmidbauer name continues to stand for high technological competence geared to customer requirements. With this approach, Schmidbauer has established numerous long-standing partnerships with renowned companies from all areas of power electronics and has earned itself an excellent position worldwide as a hotbed of innovation.

On the one hand, the electrical industry is one of the few growth sectors, even in the current economic climate. On the other hand, increasing global uncertainties, access restrictions and isolationist tendencies in certain markets have meant that Schmidbauer has come under increasing pressure from key customers to establish and maintain production sites in Asia, the USA and other growth regions. ‘To do that,’ says Dominik Reichl, Managing Director of Schmidbauer, ‘we would have to clone our plant in Hebertsfelden several times over – including the employees. That is simply not affordable for a 200-person company.’

Accordingly, the family-run company looked for a strong partner to work with to drive Schmidbauer’s global development from a true hidden champion to a global player in power electronics. The Bavarians found what they were looking for in – Bavaria. More precisely, at the European headquarters of the Japanese company SUMIDA in Erlau (near Passau).

SUMIDA’s entry gives Schmidbauer direct access to the manufacturing network of a leading global manufacturer of inductive components and modules. The companies also complement each other extremely well on the product side: while SUMIDA has mastered series production, Schmidbauer is regarded as a creative manufacturer that implements tailor-made solutions for its customers‘ applications. The same applies to the market orientation in power electronics: Schmidbauer complements SUMIDA’s portfolio in the upper power range, as the company already manufactures inductors for applications up to 3 MW.

For the Schmidbauer and Reichl entrepreneurial families, it was important to maintain the company’s independence while offering attractive long-term prospects to the 200+ employees in Hebertsfelden (Bavaria, Germany) and at the Blovice site near Pilsen (Czech Republic). ‘The success of a family business with over 75 years of tradition is largely due to the passion of our employees. It was very important to us to show them that the long-term development of the company is secure and does not depend on individual persons,’ explains shareholder Johanna Reichl.

"From our point of view, the investment in Schmidbauer is much more than a strategic decision. Together with the long-established specialist for chokes, transformers and power filters, we are laying the foundations for further global expansion into industrial markets of the future," says Klaus Neumeier, CEO of SUMIDA AG, expressing his delight at the merger.

The combination of Schmidbauer’s development and manufacturing expertise with the international production, logistics and sales power of the SUMIDA Group brings considerable advantages for all customers. The combined knowledge of inductive components shortens development times. Schmidbauer’s two production sites will remain the specialists for samples and small series. SUMIDA’s 36 locations in 18 countries provide flexible manufacturing options in conjunction with a globally efficient supply chain. This will enable Schmidbauer to supply its customers worldwide from local production facilities in the future.

The completion of the merger is still subject to the condition precedent of approval by the relevant antitrust and other authorities. SUMIDA and Schmidbauer are seeking to obtain the necessary approvals as quickly as possible.