Leoni, the leading European provider of cables and cable systems to the automotive sector and other industries, is stepping up the globalisation and efficiency of its Wire & Cable Solutions (WCS) Division. A comprehensive programme named 'WCS ON Excellence' has been set up to drive profitable growth.

"The Leoni Group is in a phase of strong expansion, for which the Wire & Cable Solutions Division is establishing further conditions," Dr Frank Hiller, who has been in charge of the WCS Division on the Management Board of Leoni AG since 1 July 2014, affirmed. "We are pursuing three aims: to expand our business in appealing markets, to widen margins and to tap synergies within the organisation."

The WCS Division will expand its business particularly in promising areas, which, alongside the automotive industry, include rolling stock, healthcare and robotics as well as other niche markets. This also entails continued development towards being a provider of cable systems and related services. The aim is for the income generated in the Americas as well as Asia/Pacific regions to grow disproportionately strongly in the next decade. Dedicated responsibilities were established for this at the organisational level. Long-term, the proportion of sales generated in these two regions outside Europe combined is to rise from currently 39 per cent to well more than 50 per cent. Globalisation outside WCS' automotive sector will probably also take place by way of business acquisitions.

The division has launched its 'WCS ON Excellence' programme to provide additional business impetus and to boost profitability. It will, with a large number of measures, push progress at both the functional and operational levels in the areas of purchasing, technology, production and sales. The division's EBIT margin is targeted to thereby rise to seven percent from 2016 - in line with the objective of the Leoni Group.

With about 8,500 staff and a network of more than 60 facilities for development, production and sales in 21 countries, the WCS Division is today among the world's ten largest cable suppliers. Its value chain ranges from product development and engineering to wire and fibre drawing, cable production and assembly through to such services as consulting, training and electron beam crosslinking. The division's customers stem from the five core markets of automotive & commercial vehicles, communication & infrastructure, industry & healthcare, electrical appliances as well as conductors & copper solutions.

The company has an Indian subsidiary at Pune.