Fanuc Merges All of Its European Operations into a Single Corporation
Olaf Gehrels to run the new Fanuc Luxembourg Corporation
Echternach – Fanuc’s restructuring of its European operations is aimed at improving its clout on European markets. All former operations of its divisions active on European-wide scales are being merged into the new Fanuc Luxembourg Corporation (FLC) headquartered in Echternach, Luxembourg. Olaf Gehrels, for many years European president of Fanuc Robotics, has been appointed FLC’s president.
The move merges all of Fanuc’s European divisions, i.e., Fanuc Robotics (industrial robots), Fanuc FA (factory automation, CNC‑systems, and drives), and Fanuc Robomachine Europe (milling machines, electric-powered injection-molding presses, and wire-erosion machinery), under the aegis of a single parent corporation.
Olaf Gehrels noted that, “We have instituted this restructuring, which we have been planning for quite a while, from a position of strength.” Fanuc’s European-wide operations have nearly 800 employees and consolidated annual revenues of 600 million Euros.
The regional organizational structures of its various subsidiaries, such as Fanuc Robotics Deutschland GmbH, Fanuc FA Deutschland GmbH, and Fanuc Robomachine Europe GmbH, will be retained. Wherever sensible, they will be supported by teams formed at the European level, as was recently the case in the automotive area and efforts aimed at providing support to customers active on transnational scales.
Fanuc Luxembourg Corporation’s president, Olaf Gehrels, regards the move as giving Fanuc a leaner organization: “Our growth targets demand a clear-cut organizational structure. Although we must remain highly mobile on a regional scale, we have to be able to project a strong corporate image European-wide.”
As in the past, Fanuc’s success in the European marketplace will depend upon its staffs of dedicated, motivated employees, as well as its scores of satisfied, convinced customers who appreciate the benefits they derive from the high reliabilities of its products and the professional, local-language support rendered by its European subsidiaries. As Gehrels put it, “The key to our success is the trusting relationships we have with our customers"