Gallus is targeting opportunities in the Gulf, where it anticipates the market will grow at 4–5% a year, says Matthias Boog, chief operating officer of the Switzerland-based firm’s Folding Carton Division and president of its Management Board.
“For Gallus, the Middle East is a very important market,” he told Packaging MEA.
“We feel that there are many entrepreneurs here looking for innovative things and doing things differently to participate in the growth and not only to grow but also to get higher margins by doing things differently than the past.”
Heidelberg has represented Gallus’s folding carton packaging portfolio in the Middle East since 2011, with two sales of flagship ICS 670s in the Gulf following swiftly from the agreement. But Boog sees potential for further sales.
“The size of the market is growing and with the situation happening in several Mediterranean countries, quite a few brand owners are moving their facilities to the UAE, needing printers to support them,” he said.
“There is a tremendous growth potential in the range of 4-5% over the next couple of years. At the same time competitiveness is getting more and more important because margins are closing and in order to cover this we need to have innovative solutions as Gallus is offering them. We feel that the concept we are offering with our machines is unique for the folding carton industry and it allows growing with profit over average.”
While Gallus offers an introductory CCS 510 model, Boog argues that even smaller Middle East packaging printers can gain from inline operations through investing in a high-end ICS 670.
“Both these models can do the same job but the web width is different,” he said.
“On the other hand, if you calculate other factors like gaining competitiveness by just in time (JIT) manufacturing from the raw material roll to the finished product in one step… Even for smaller companies, it is very attractive to look in this direction, besides that there are energy savings, which saves running cost.”
Gallus can also integrate more digital technology into its presses to open up new packaging applications, he added.
“We consider digital as a very important step in the future,” he said.
“We are working on different solutions within the Gallus group and also with Heidelberg, which we will reveal after it is ready.
“Digital is currently limited in terms of speed and embellishment of the product but this can be overcome. In the machine we are offering we integrate so many different processes.”
Boog added that Gallus is optimistic on global demand for folding cartons, despite restrictions on tobacco sales in some markets.
“If we look at the new statistics we have on tobacco, the market is stagnating to declining in the Western world but continues to grow in the rest of the world, especially in Asia and Africa,” he said.
“We have to watch carefully how restricted package styles for tobacco will influence demand. However, not each and every region or country will follow these new regulations.
“On the other hand all our inline converting machines can be equipped easily for many other applications and you can go into different fields like cosmetics or confectionery.
“For this you don’t need a new machine but just additional process modules to achieve a completely different product and cover a new market. Thus an investment into such a Gallus system also gives our customers a lot of security of their investment.”