Want to find out the largest engineering companies in the world? Engineering and Construction are among the heavy industries where, in general, huge magnitudes of capital and scale are involved. Therefore, it is easy to guess that the top companies or the market leaders are the ones that are operating in a magnanimous scale of operations.
The engineering industry can be of various forms. Engineering can mean civil, military, or mechanical engineering. However, when talking about the industry, it is generally used in a contracted form to include those industry players that are involved in manufacture and dealing of machine tools, machinery or engines. The roots of industrial engineering can be traced back to the Industrial Revolution. It is one of the key industries that has been instrumental in giving us the transformation from manual to machines, and helped tap the huge potential of mass production through machines. It is this very industry that has accelerated the growth of global trade and brought the advantages of economies of scale into the picture for the first time. The industry itself has gone through a sea of change since then, with ever growing modernization efforts and technological advancements and more recently, integrating the potential of automation into the mechanical processes.
Global Industry Classification Standard defines the Engineering and Construction industry as “companies engaged in primarily non-residential construction. It includes civil engineering companies and large-scale contractors, and excludes companies classified in the Homebuilding sub-industry”. Engineering companies are therefore, the major contributors towards the high-precision machinery used in various other industries. The industry provides it expertise towards delivering technological solutions for other industries and is therefore, one of the most important industries out there. From the high rises we admire on our day to day lives to the high capital industrial projects, large scale projects are dependent on machinery and in turn, the engineering industry.
Within the engineering space several companies often undertake the tender form of operation or turnkey projects. Please also check out the largest EPC companies in the world to find out more about engineering, procurement and construction companies that undertake these services on contract basis, for contracts awarded for particular project work as turnkey or provision of holistic services, whether it is in building of a specific plant or industrial unit.
2020 has been a tough year for many industries, especially for the ones involved in engineering and construction. Supply chain disruptions in several parts of the world due to the lockdowns are likely to cause constrained access to materials and unavailability of sub-contractors. In the short term contracts are expected to be suspended, as organizations and governments face the brunt of contingency expenses that the pandemic has caused. The industry is set to face some uncertain times with the running risk of cancellations of fresh contracts and re-negotiations on sanctioned ones. Companies with huge debts are likely to run into liquidity crises if unable to stabilize their financial positions. Also, being a labor intensive sector, the engineering industry has often been under the radar for safety on site and even more so in these pandemic times, where companies need to provide additional safety from the virus contraction in a labor intensive manufacturing unit. The engineering industry has always been in the spotlight of major labor issues of health and safety concerns. Safety incidents have often been prevalent in the past and risks include machinery risks, risks of accidents and physical injuries as well as risks of occupational diseases. Compliance of health and safety standards like OHSAS 18001, is often a prerogative in these industries. Risk of covid is an added risk to the already burdened safety requirements to be maintained within companies, which includes provision of proper personal protective equipment and multiple shifts to reduce physical contact.
The biggest players haven’t been secure from the COVID-19 impact and several of them have been facing stress. American conglomerate Honeywell International Inc.(NYSE:HON), that delves into the industrial engineering segment, has reportedly laid off close to 10K people from its workforce worldwide, in an attempt to “reposition” in the anticipation of the recession likely to be caused by the pandemic.
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Major players in the engineering market include American, European as well as Asian players, with China emerging in the dominant position. American players include ABB Company Ltd (NYSE:ABB) and Roper Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ROP) that even though don’t make our list, are significant players in the market. While some players in our list are pure-play companies, others are engaged in multiple sectors as conglomerates. Our list is ranked based on the revenues of the companies and we have also reported the number of employees for each key player to give an idea of the scale of operations.
By the way, you are going to be surprised when you see the list of the top 5 engineering companies in the world. Let’s now take a look at the list of largest engineering companies in the world:
The American conglomerate is involved in several segments including aerospace, building technologies, performance materials, and safety and productivity solutions. The North Carolina based company is a Fortune 100 company, with a legacy of over 100 years. The company was involved in engineering and manufacturing projects for the US Military during World War II.
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13. China Energy Engineering Group
Revenue - $36,111 million
Number of Employees -122,560
The China Energy Engineering Group is a state-owned energy conglomerate, headquartered in Chaoyang District, Beijing. The company is mainly involved in energy infrastructure construction services constructing hydropower stations, power plants, and other infrastructure, and was established in 2011.
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12. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Revenue - $37,055.3 million
Number of Employees -81,631
Mitsubishi ranks 12th in our list of the biggest engineering companies in the world. Under Japanese conglomerate group, Mitsubishi, the company is engaged in all types of engineering, electrical equipment and electronics segments. The company provides integrated solutions to several industries ranging from commercial aviation and transportation to power plants and gas turbines. The company’s revenue figures in the first half of the year showed significant decrease from the same period of the previous fiscal year due to the impact of COVID‐19. However, it is set to be on a recovery track.
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11. Bouygues
Revenue - $42,543 million
Number of Employees -130,500
The Bouygues Group, is a French industrial group with its headquarters in Paris, France. The company is listed on Euronext Paris exchange .The Group itself is engaged in diversified activities including construction (Bouygues Construction, Bouygues Immobilier, Colas), media (TF1) and telecoms (Bouygues Telecom), and a presence in 90 countries.
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10. ACS
Revenue - $43,706 million
Number of Employees -190,431
ACS ranks 10th in our list of the largest engineering companies in the world. Spanish company is an engineering and construction company engaged in key sectors of the economy such as infrastructure and energy. The company was founded in 1997, and has a presence worldwide, including the United Kingdom and United States along with several locations in the APAC region.
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9. Vinci
Revenue - $54,788 million
Number of Employees -222,397
French giant, Vinci, is engaged in the engineering and construction domain, catering mainly to the infrastructure building industry. The company is involved in transport infrastructure and public amenities under public-private partnership agreements, and concessions include airports and autoroutes.
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8. Siemens AG Company (SIEGY)
Revenue - $63,987.7 million
Number of Employees -293,000
Headquartered in Munich, Siemens AG Company is a German industrial manufacturing company involved in several sectors, including healthcare and industrial automation. Siemens was embroiled in controversy for being the engineering company associated with the controversial Adani Carmichael coal mine in Queensland, Australia, in 2019.
PowerChina ranks 7th in our list of the largest engineering companies in the world. A wholly owned government company, PowerChina, caters to more than 110 countries around the world. The company provides investment financing, planning and design, construction contracting, equipment manufacturing and management services within the engineering space. The company holds over 14,841 patents.
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6. Hitachi Company Ltd (HTCMY)
Revenue - $80,386.8 million
Number of Employees -301,056
Japanese conglomerate operates in several product segments including industrial solutions, IT solutions to mobility solutions. The company was founded in 1910 by electrical engineer Namihei Odaira.
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Bosch Corporation
Revenue - $86,229.3 million
Number of Employees -34,600
German multinational engineering and technology company, Bosch Corporation, is named after its founder Robert Bosch and came into existence in 1886. The company today has 129 engineering locations around the world and operates mainly in four divisions including mobility (hardware and software), consumer goods (including household appliances and power tools), industrial technology (including drive and control) and energy and building technology. In 2019, the Industrial Technology business sector generated over 10% of total Bosch Group sales, while the Energy and Building Technology business sector generated 7 %. Due to the Covid crisis, the Indian segment of the company lost significant orders down over $800 million for BS VI projects as the market dipped.
