Business Model of the Group

WACKER is a global company with state-of-the-art specialty chemical products. Our portfolio includes over 3,200 products supplied in over 100 countries. WACKER products are found in countless everyday items, ranging from cosmetic powders to solar cells.

Silicon Is Our Main Starting Material

Most of our products are based on inorganic starting materials. Silicon-based products account for 80 percent of WACKER sales, and products that are primarily ethylene-related for 20 percent. Our customers come from virtually every major sector, ranging from consumer goods, food, pharmaceuticals, textiles and the solar, electrical / electronics and base-chemical industries, to medical technology, biotech and mechanical engineering. As a manufacturer of silicones and polymers, WACKER is particularly well represented in the automotive and construction sectors. We are also a key supplier of silicon wafers to the semiconductor industry. In recent years, the market for polycrystalline-silicon for the solar industry has demonstrated strong growth – an area in which WACKER is one of the world’s largest manufacturers.

Technical Competence Centers Support Sales and Marketing Activities

WACKER operates all over the world. Our sales strategy is centered around expanding our presence in growth markets. In total, WACKER has 50 sales offices in 31 countries. Our sales organization is supplemented not only by a network of technical competence centers, where customers learn about WACKER’s product portfolio, but also by the WACKER ACADEMY, where we offer technical training sessions on our products and their application fields. In 2015, we expanded our existing technical competence centers in Mexico City and Moscow.

New Production Site in the USA

WACKER’s integrated global production system consists of 25 production sites (2014: 25) – nine in Europe, eight in the Americas and eight in Asia. A new production site was added to the manufacturing network when WACKER began commissioning the facilities in Charleston, Tennessee (USA). The Group’s key production location is Burghausen (Germany). At this site alone, we have some 9,700 employees (including temporary workers and trainees). In 2015, Burghausen manufactured more than 780,000 metric tons of product, accounting for around 50 percent of the Group’s production output. Alongside Burghausen, Nünchritz is WACKER’s second multidivisional site.

Key Factors for Multidivisional Sites

Key Factors for Multidivisional Sites (graphic)Key Factors for Multidivisional Sites (graphic)