Oystar head sets out double digit growth strategy

Oystar CEO explains how its growth plans centre on transforming the company from a collection of “little kingdoms” to a trademark focused on emerging markets.

The German machinery company has set a target of recording annual growth of 10 per cent until 2015.

To achieve that goal, Oystar CEO Tom Graf told this publication that the company would be targeting emerging markets by expanding its range of mid-market machines.

Graf said the recession had spurred the company to rethink its strategy and change the way it operates. The CEO said: “We were in former times a typical German engineering company very much concentrating on what techniques we could offer to our customers instead of asking our customers what are your needs in your markets.”

Oystar has therefore reorganised its business structure to be more market focused with the creation of business units for dairy, pharma, consumer and food.

Graf added that he has focused on making Oystar a more cohesive group with a common identity rather than a loose collection of brands or “little kingdoms”. As part of the new strategy Oystar is also moving away from processing machinery and is rebranding itself as “the packaging company” rather than “the process and packaging group”.