Production (unaudited section)
Compared with the prior year, production output declined by a low-single-digit percentage. On the other hand, production costs rose 5 percent. One of the main factors in this increase was that the Charleston plant was in operation for the entire year.
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% |
Plant Utilization Rate |
|
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
WACKER SILICONES |
95 |
|
WACKER POLYMERS |
85 |
|
WACKER POLYSILICON |
90 |
|
Capital expenditures for 2019 amounted to €379.5 million (2018: €460.9 million). Maintenance costs totaled around €445 million.
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Location |
Projects |
Year |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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|
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Zhangjiagang, China |
Silicone elastomers |
2019 |
||
Ulsan, South Korea |
Dispersible polymer powders |
2019 |
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Charleston, USA |
Pyrogenic silica |
2019 |
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Holla, Norway |
Silicon metal |
2019 |
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Priorities of the Productivity Program
The ongoing Wacker Operating System (WOS) program is helping us boost productivity along the entire value chain. The most important goal is to continue reducing specific operating costs each year. In 2019, we handled more than 600 projects, which centered on raising production output from existing plants and optimizing energy consumption. The WOS ACADEMY held courses in which over 100 employees were trained in the use of productivity methods such as Six Sigma and LEAN.