STUDER Reports Positive Results for the 2025 Financial Year
The Swiss technology company for precision cylindrical grinding machines was able to strengthen its global market position despite the challenging geopolitical situation, expand its portfolio with innovative new products, further develop its customer care, and invest several million euros in infrastructure.
Fritz Studer AG's annual press conference took place in Steffisburg in front of international media representatives under the motto "Swiss Made." "The year 2025 was marked by challenging markets and geopolitical uncertainties. Nevertheless, we exceeded our expectations and emerged from this phase stronger than ever," said CEO Sandro Bottazzo. Despite complex global conditions, the Swiss technology company was able to strengthen its market position worldwide, expand its portfolio with important innovations, and further increase its operational efficiency. Particularly pleasing was the excellent market response to the new S23 universal cylindrical grinding machines and the latest generation of favoritCNC. In customer care, the long-established manufacturer even achieved record sales in paid service and maintenance.
STUDER Maintains and Expands Market Share Worldwide
Total sales were slightly below the previous year's level but exceeded expectations thanks to a strong year-end performance. Thanks to its excellent market positioning, STUDER achieved good sales in North America despite customs challenges. The result in Asia was also positive and above the previous year's level, especially in China. STUDER also exceeded the previous year's level in terms of machine orders received. The high proportion of new customers, at 44 percent, was also encouraging. Orders from North America, Asia, and European countries such as France, Czechia, and Denmark in particular supported this result.
Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, on the other hand, fell short of expectations. Overall, however, market share was maintained or expanded in all regions of the world. The customer care segment performed very well. "Thanks to our global, customer-focused service organization, we were able to set new sales records in the service and maintenance business areas," explained Bottazzo. In many markets, over 70 percent of the active installed base now has a maintenance contract. In the area of machine overhauls, the year ended with one of the best order backlogs in the company's 114-year history.
STUDER is Very Well Positioned in the Aerospace Industry
The aerospace segment delivered another record. It closed as the largest single segment for the first time, accounting for almost a third of all orders. Other important categories were precision engineering, machine tools, and the automotive industry. "Our broad portfolio remains a pillar of success and covers a wide range of universal cylindrical grinding applications," emphasized Bottazzo. The best-selling machine was the S33, followed by the S31 and the S41. Both external and machines for internal cylindrical grinding also performed well. The S141 even achieved one of the best sales results of the last ten years.
An additional event in 2025 was the acquisition of GF Machining Solutions by the UNITED GRINDING Group, which now operates under the name UNITED MACHINING SOLUTIONS. With total sales of over USD 1.5 billion and around 5,000 employees at over 50 locations, the group is one of the largest machine tool manufacturers in the world. As part of the acquisition, the STUDER Competence Center for internal cylindrical grinding moved to the modern premises of UNITED MACHINING at Roger-Federer-Allee 7 in Biel (Switzerland), just a few minutes away from its previous location.
New Machines and Innovative Grinding Technology
In 2025, STUDER continued to focus on innovation and the further development of reliable grinding technologies to make its customers even more competitive. "One highlight was the world premiere of the S23 universal cylindrical grinding machine with a compact design for precise grinding results," said CTO Daniel Huber. The new generation of favoritCNC with modern FANUC control and automation capabilities also met with a very positive market response. And the further development of WireDress® for internal cylindrical grinding enables contact-free dressing of metal-bonded grinding wheels in the machine. Customers also benefit from a new axis system for the S31 and S33, which allows automatic adjustment to different workpiece lengths. The year also brought important new digital features: "The C.O.R.E. Release 5.0 enables access to Transaction Network's manufacturer-independent customer portal directly from the machine operating panel and visualizes live status updates of the machine park, among other things," concluded Daniel Huber.
Parallel to product development, STUDER consistently drove forward the transformation of its operational processes. "In 2025, we took our production and logistics processes to a new level," explained COO Stephan Stoll. One milestone was the creation of a state-of-the-art small parts warehouse. The fully automated system with 32 autonomous robots and 16,000 containers offers space for tens of thousands of parts and significantly increases efficiency for both machine and spare parts logistics. It also forms a further foundation for future growth. In addition, the company made progress in digitalization on the way to becoming a paperless factory.
STUDER Expects the Economy to Pick up in 2026
In the third and especially in the fourth quarter, STUDER recorded a significant increase in the number of machines sold, which, from today's perspective, is set to continue in 2026. Consequently, the company expects a further increase for the current fiscal year. "Demand for high-quality grinding machines will continue to recover, and the response to our new S23 has been very good. The first machines have already been successfully sold and delivered," said CEO Bottazzo. He intends to continue the strategic investment in innovation, infrastructure, and the workforce.
Dual training also remains a key factor in STUDER's success, with apprentices accounting for around ten percent of the workforce. The high quality of training is regularly demonstrated by successes at events such as the SwissSkills vocational championships. Finally, Bottazzo announced that STUDER would be participating in over 35 trade fairs worldwide this year and looked forward to the 50th anniversary of Granitan®: the high-performance material developed and patented by STUDER continues to set standards for highly stable machine bases today.
From left to right: Stephan Stoll – COO, Sandro Bottazzo – CEO, Daniel Huber – CTO