Through globalisation and expansion of existing customer relationships, ESG (Elektroniksystem- und Logistik-GmbH) succeeded in maintaining its growth for 2003 on the same level as the previous year. Total sales for the year 2003 increased by twelve percent from 143 million euros to 160 million euros (growth in 2002: 13.5%). In the same time period, receipt of orders reached 179 million euros (previous year: € 134 million). This demonstrates a growth of 34 percent. The number of employees rose from 1,003 to 1,052. For the current fiscal year, ESG expects sales to reach 170 million euros.
“In spite of the shortages in the defence budget and the continuing crisis in the information and communications industry, we managed to meet or even exceed all of our financial targets in 2003”, say both managing directors of ESG, Gerhard Schempp (president) and Gerhard Derriks. “We achieved this in particular through two measures. Firstly, ESG was able to acquire new customers and markets elsewhere in Europe. This especially applies to France, where we could acquire Orange France as a new customer in the telecommunications sector and PSA Peugeot Citroen in the automotive sector. Secondly, we expanded our business in the current segments.”
As in previous years, ESG obtained two-thirds of its sales in 2003 from the military/official authorities sector. Among the most important projects that ESG had in this market in 2003 were the conversion of helicopters for the police force in the federal state of Nordrhein-Westfalen, an additional job order for the successful computer system HEROS 2/1 Batch 2, the development of the IRIS military network planning system and the operation of logistics systems in the German Bundeswehr.
The propelling force of ESG’s growth in 2003 remained the civil sector. The majority of job orders came from the automotive industry. For these customers, ESG has been developing and integrating electronics and software systems, attending to laboratory and mass-production vehicles, performing process consultations and training service personnel for years.
Other civil markets in which ESG is involved include transportation and traffic as well as telecommunications. Particularly in the latter field, ESG was able to acquire orders from abroad at the end of last year. For example, ESG was able to sell its specially developed network planning and network optimization system ESG-NetCOP to Orange France, the Spanish mobile communications provider Amena and to Vodafone Italy.