Zimmer Group plans further expansion - locally and worldwide

China, India and Germany

Established over 40 years ago in Rheinau, Germany, the Zimmer Group is one of the world's leading manufacturers of automation and damping components for machines and furniture. The Zimmer Group is also an important and valued partner for system solutions for numerous well-known national and international companies in the fields of mechanical and plant engineering, as well as the aviation and automotive industries.

Despite the recent difficulties globally, the Zimmer Group, which employs over 1,260 people at 13 locations worldwide, has been able to maintain its expansion course, which has been ongoing for years. "The strong increase in demand worldwide in almost all product areas, makes a comprehensive and global expansion strategy for the coming years necessary in order to continue to develop the enormous potential in Europe, Asia and Americas as quickly as possible," states Achim Gauss, Managing Director, Technology and Sales.

"In Germany, at our production site, we are now planning to expand our capacity by an additional 5,000 sqm. This will enable us to meet the steadily increasing demand, especially from Asia, but also Americas and parts of Europe. In addition, the Zimmer Group currently has around 40 new job advertisements, for the Rheinau site alone," explains Günther Zimmer, Owner and Managing Director.

"The investments made during the previous years into our R&D, have expanded Zimmer Group’s product portfolio enormously. Highly innovative products have been created and are now very well accepted by the market worldwide." Martin Zimmer, Owner and Managing Director, continues.

Expansion in China

"China has become our number one growth market in recent years and we are bursting at the seams at our office in Shanghai. For this reason, a new building is now planned in China, although it will not be built in the metropolis of Shanghai, but 250 km away in Jintan (Jiangsu Province)," explains Achim Gauss.

The decision to establish our new Chinese location in the Jintan region was not only based on the favorable economic conditions, but also on the opportunities to network with other German companies from our home region who also chose to establish locations in Jintan. In addition, the Jintan region has a close cooperation with the Offenburg University of Applied Sciences and the local Association of Economics “Wirtschaftsregion Ortenau (WRO)”. Furthermore, the Jintan region has a broad university landscape in mechanical engineering, as well as a German-speaking school which would support Zimmer Group’s sustainable personnel growth in China. A building of our own has now become urgently necessary, because with increasing turnover, fast on-site service is also becoming more and more a customer requirement. In order to further develop the market in China, but also to competitively implement customer requirements such as customer-specific applications or professional project management for the local market, more space, better infrastructure and qualified personnel is needed on site.

India is also increasingly important for the Zimmer Group. "For our sales office there, we will be able to present a plan for expansion in the coming year," Achim Gauss adds.

In order to increase our market opportunities in the Americas, the company established its own sales office in Querétaro, Mexico, in August of this year and is planning to do the same for Canada in the upcoming months. In the USA, the Zimmer Group has owned it’s company building for some time and is primarily expanding its sales and service staff there.

With a well developed expansion plan, the Zimmer Group not only wants to reach new customers and markets, but also make better use of the synergies among the respective locations worldwide. "In this way, we will better position ourselves in a globalized world and create lasting growth opportunities for the Zimmer Group through improved competitiveness. To achieve this, it is necessary to expand existing branches and enhance their capabilities, but also to establish new branches in countries that offer us opportunities for further development in the foreseeable future. The whole project will also be secured in the long term by an orderly transition process to the next generation," concludes Martin Zimmer. Günther and Martin Zimmer have a total of 10 children, 5 of them are already involved in the business activities of the Zimmer Group.