DANIEL BRUNTON TALKS TO ESA KOSKI, VICE PRESIDENT,
SALES & MARKETING OF SWEDISH CONVERTING EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER – EMBA MACHINERY AB –
AS IT IS NOW ALL SET FOR THE ROLL-OUT OF ITS LATEST FLEXO FOLDER GLUER.
Esa, first of all, a happy New Year to you!
Before we get into the main topic for discussion,
please could you give us an overview of EMBA’s business
activity over the last 12 months.
EK: Thanks Dan, and also to you!
After a strong 2018, we certainly have a busy year ahead – plenty of trade
shows and conferences and we are excited about the opportunities that
lie ahead. If we look back five or six years, we have seen a steady growth
in sales, including new machines and aftermarket services. Last year has
enhanced that growth further and we have increased our manufacturing
capacity at our headquarters in Sweden to an all time high. I am pleased that our
sales have been strong in all the markets where we are active – and especially in
Europe, USA and Russia. Consequently, we achieved a record year for EMBA in
2018 which was recognised by a leading Swedish business magazine rating all
limited companies in the country in terms of growth, profitability and long
term stability. We qualified to that list, awarded to only one per thousand
companies in the country, which certainly is encouraging us to continue
with our efforts to develop premium machines and aftermarket services.
DB: How are things looking for the year ahead?
EK: Even though we started to feel a general mood in the market
charactarised by caution due to the global political situation during the
second half of last year, we have started 2019 with a strong order book. We have
prepared our manufacturing capacity to deliver a record volume and considering
the activity level with existing projects, I believe that a positive outcome with
continuing growth is achievable.
Like any successful machine manufacturer, you need to continually develop new solutions.
THIS IS A MACHINE SIZE THAT OUR CUSTOMERS HAVE ASKED US TO DEVELOP, SINCE IT WILL BE A
PERFECT FIT TO OUR EXISTING 175 QS ULTIMA AND 245 QS ULTIMA MACHINES.
DB: What is in store for 2019?
EK: We are pleased to confirm that we are now launching our next machine
contribution to the successful Ultima technical platform, the FFG 215 QS Ultima.
This is a machine size that our customers have asked us to develop, since it will
be a perfect fit to our existing 175 QS Ultima and 245 QS Ultima machines.
DB: Can you tell us a bit more about this machine?
EK: It is a line for the 2.1m machine segment, built on the proven Ultima
concept, with all the features seen on the previous Ultima machines.
For example, non-crush converting, quick-set, high speed, vacuum transfer
through the complete machine and low energy consumption. In other
words, it is a third alternative for our customers to choose from when
considering the Ultima platform, with the same technology and features,
independent of machine size.
DB: Have you got the first machine sold already?
EK: We have followed a strict development plan and during that
time we have sold three machines which will be installed this year. The
first machine will be commissioned in Germany next month at the
family-owned company, Hans Peter Brockmann Kartonagen in
Stuhr. We have started to quote the machine on a regular basis since the
beginning of December last year.
DB: How have customers reacted to the announcement
of this new machine?
EK: This is a machine size requested by our customers and during my
discussions with independent and integrated customers, I have received
some very positive feed-back as it is an addition to our well proven Ultima
machine range. My view is that the positive feed-back is also based on
the fact that since the three machine sizes are built on the same platform,
it will be an efficient machine range in any factory from an operational
and efficiency point of view. ■
Thank you Esa, we wish you all the
best of luck with this new machine
and look forward to hearing from
some of your customers over
the coming months and years.
Published in IPBI January 2019