Syntegon used the stage at Interpack to present not only various technical innovations but also its business figures for 2022. Dr. Michael Grosse, Chairman of the Board of Management, was able to report encouraging news to the international journalists present at the press event on Friday: The company increased both order intake and sales last year despite ongoing challenges from the global supply chain crisis. Order intake rose by 3.0 percent to 1.55 billion euros, while total sales increased by 2.6 percent to 1.44 billion euros. Two-thirds of total sales were attributable to worldwide machine sales, with the remaining third coming from the service offering.
A look at the company's various markets reveals a balanced picture: While during the acute phase of the Corona pandemic, the pharmaceutical sector naturally dominated Syntegon's sales, the food division was able to "catch up" again in the meantime. In 2022, the split was 54 percent pharma and 46 percent food. Geographically, too, sales were generated in roughly equal shares in the most important markets around the globe: 32 percent in Europe, 33 percent in North America, and 35 percent in Asia and the rest of the world. The share of the Americas increased slightly, while that of Europe declined somewhat.
Current trends
In the food industry in particular, Syntegon saw growing demand in North America last year, especially in the chocolate and bars market segments. The process of increased automation, accelerated by the Corona pandemic, has continued in 2022.
In the food industry, the trend towards more sustainable packaging solutions is also continuing. The company is not only noticing this in its new machine business, where it has been developing new solutions with alternative packaging materials for many years, but also increasingly in its services - for example in the course of converting existing lines to sustainable packaging materials.
In the pharmaceutical industry, the expiry of the Covid 19 special trend in the Chinese market was now making itself felt. In 2022, trends that had been eclipsed by the pandemic in previous years have regained importance. These include the move toward small lot sizes for personalized medicines, such as those used to treat cancer. In addition to the resumption of projects in this area, the Pharmaceuticals Division has seen high demand regionally, particularly in Latin America, where many investments had been postponed in previous years. The issue of sustainability has also become increasingly relevant in the pharmaceutical sector with regard to reducing the carbon footprint of manufacturing companies.
Product innovations from 2022
Last year, Syntegon launched a number of new products on the market. With these, the machine builder aims above all to provide answers to the key market trends of sustainability, digitalization and automation in the pharmaceutical and food industries.
In its proven Sigpack TTM cartoner platform, the company has integrated lock-style technology, which makes it possible to save energy and material costs. The new PMX packaging machine for ground coffee and whole beans processes recyclable mono materials and saves energy and material through condition monitoring.
Other innovations include the new DCS discharge station and the innovative IDH handling system for particularly efficient and gentle processing of cookies and crackers, and the NutraFlash complete line for the production of gum and jelly products. With the further developed, highly flexible Robotic Pick & Place Platform (RPP), Syntegon automates process steps such as handling, feeding and loading.
In the pharmaceutical sector, Syntegon launched new solutions for the production of solid dosage forms in 2022 with the Solidlab 2 Plus fluid bed laboratory unit and the TPR 200 Plus tablet press. Both technologies support time-saving product transfers from laboratory to production scale with a special focus on continuous manufacturing processes. Syntegon 2022 even won the German Packaging Award for its fully automated, gloveless Versynta microBatch production cell, which the company is developing together with global pharmaceutical service provider Vetter.
Brand new on show at Interpack
Even fresher machine innovations can now be seen at Interpack. With the SVX series, Syntegon will present machines for the most common form fill and seal applications at high output rates in the food industry on the first day of the trade show. Two SVX variants will be presented at the show, which will be launched this year along with two other SVX machines: Live demonstrations will allow trade show visitors to experience the new technology firsthand .
