HIMA further strengthens international operations

As one of the world’s leading independent specialists in solutions for safety-critical applications, HIMA Paul Hildebrandt GmbH largely maintained its sales in FY 2015 despite the massive decline in oil prices and resulting caution in major plant engineering and construction. The Bruehl, Germany-based family-owned enterprise generated sales of EUR118.6 million in FY 2015 compared with EUR121.3 million in FY 2014.

HIMA also continues to strengthen its position in the international market for safety-related automation solutions by setting up new sites outside Europe, further diversifying in its branches, and standardizing on worldwide business processes.

“Last year was a difficult one, particularly for the oil and gas industry but also in the process manufacturing industry,” said Sankar  Ramakrishnan, CEO of the HIMA Group. “The significantly weaker economy in China and Latin America, in particular, had an impact on our business. Therefore I am more than pleased that we succeeded in staying on track and making important investments in the future.”

The company inaugurated a new regional headquarters in Singapore where it will coordinate business in Asia Pacific with existing offices in Australia, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan.

HIMA also invested EUR3.1 million in a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in order to standardize its global business processes and increase its efficiency. “With an ERP solution rolled out worldwide, our internal processes can support and help us accelerate our growth,” said Ramakrishnan.

In 2015, HIMA also intensified its activities in the rail sector, including updating the global sales structure and bundling development competence, to achieve synergy effects across the company.

With more than 45 years of experience in safety-critical applications, primarily in the process industry, HIMA will use its expertise to increase market share in the rail business. Compared to the previous year, HIMA has achieved a significant increase in its revenue of rail projects.

“We have grown strongly in recent years. The important thing now is to create the structures to manage this growth. As a family-owned SME, healthy growth is important to us,” commented Steffen Philipp, Managing Partner at HIMA.

“We want to move forward from our strong position as market leader in Europe to become a global supplier of safety solutions. Our new hub in Singapore, which underpins our position in the important growth markets in the Asia-Pacific region, is a decisive step in this direction.”