Surplex continues its expansion

Surplex, one of Europe’s leading industrial auctions and trades used machinery and equipment worldwide, has managed to maintain its supply chains during the various worldwide lockdowns.

Thanks to the willingness of everyone to cooperate, the company says it was able to continue to deliver industrial goods to 170 countries around the world whilst complying with the strictest hygiene measures. Even site visits continued. although the number of on-site appointments were reduced to a minimum by using new web features, such as a virtual 3D tour of the factory floor.

Since June 2020, Ghislaine Duijmelings has been steering the fortunes of Surplex GmbH as the third managing director alongside Michael Werker and Uli Stalter. Thanks to her international profile, her knowledge of the industry and her many years of experience in managing large retail companies, the Dutch-born manager sends a strong signal for Surplex’s further expansion and growth strategy. Although Surplex is already represented in 13 European countries with its own locations, it is ambitious to expand its worldwide presence.

Surplex also offered advantages when it came to dismantling, loading and transporting large machines because they are the only European industrial auction house to organise these services from a single source. Customers did not have to be personally on site for the dismantling of large machines or complete industrial plants.

The company increased its turnover by approximately 10%. With more than 600 successfully completed online auctions throughout Europe, they reached a new record in the crisis year. Around 60,000 used machines and factory equipment changed hands. Thus, after a year of pandemic, Surplex says it is in a stronger position than ever.

At the same time, the company has provided liquidity to other companies, helping them to get through the crisis. Buyers were able to acquire first-class machines at favourable prices, which increased the willingness to invest during the crisis. High-quality used machines were given a second life, which saves valuable resources. In this way, we were able to make a small contribution to stabilising industrial production in 2020.

With two new locations in Austria and the Netherlands, Surplex has continued its internationalisation despite the pandemic and the economic crisis. Shortly after the opening of the Dutch office, the new colleagues were able to demonstrate their capabilities in both countries. In the marketing of the former LDM B.V. (Netherlands), large foundry plants were sold by classic direct sale. Subsequently, the Dutch branch organised two industrial auctions with a total of more than 900 items. The office in Austria also started with two successful online auctions in which more than 1,000 high-quality machines and factory equipment for metal and plastics processing were auctioned.

The launch of the new VALUPLEX brand, Surplex says provides its clients with added value when preparing appraisals and valuations.  After making an enquiry clients receive a binding offer within 48 hours. Unlike the generalists on the market, VALUPLEX relies on the expertise of proven industry experts. These specialists not only have an enormous amount of specialist knowledge, but also have access to a powerful database into which real sales prices of machines from the respective industry are constantly flowing. The VALUPLEX experts can therefore tell the customer more precisely what sales revenue he can expect. In individual cases, even a revenue guarantee is possible! And in the case of the sale of assets, higher valuations also lead to better purchase offers.

The company also celebrated the success of Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson who won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences 2020 for their theory of auction formats. The researchers said, an optimal auction result for all participants can only be achieved through maximum transparency of all relevant information and Surplex claims it consistently puts this principle into practice on its auction platform surplex.com in the interest of all its customers.