Regional expansion helped a leader in the plastics industry grow its brand even further, prompting enthusiasm for the future – and the rise of the machines
A year on from the launch of Reifenhäuser’s MEA operation, and three months after K 2019 – the biggest trade fair on the world’s plastics and rubber calendar – Packaging MEA speaks with three visibly enthused senior company figures.
K 2019, staged in Dusseldorf in October 2019, was, according to Ulrich Reifenhäuser, CSO, Reifenhäuser Group, “the most successful K show I have ever experienced”, continuing a theme of success that the company has enjoyed, especially since launching its MEA division at the Arabplast trade show in Dubai in January 2019.
“Exactly a year ago we announced that our activities in the MEA region would be intensified, and that is exactly what we did,” says Mr Reifenhäuser. “Now, we have our own office in Dubai and from Dubai we are providing services to the Arabian world.”
Bharath Yalla, Managing Director of Reifenhäuser MEA, expands on this success: “Since Arabplast 2019 and until today, we have sold a few Reifenhauser lines which are under installation and others will follow in the due course of the year,” he says. “Our intention was to raise the image and visibility of Reifenhäuser as a brand, and we are happy with what we have achieved in the last 12 months in the region.
“We’ve always believed there is potential in the (MEA) market. Our image was important, so we had regular interaction with the customers. Explaining our technology to customers was appreciated and this has resulted in our success in the last 12 months. What we have achieved was a major turnaround. We are happy with the way we have started off and now it’s time we slowly add more principles to our existing portfolio of products.”
And this momentum built at K 2019. “I mentioned on the last day (of K 2019), that this was the most successful K Show I ever experienced,” says Mr Reifenhäuser.
“The response we got from the market, the visitors to our booth and the handshake contracts we made cannot be compared to any result or success we had in previous K shows. We have ongoing projects and we are happy with the market situation, which is improving.”
Reifenhäuser launched its Ultra Stretch blown film technology at K 2019, offering a new solution for processing polyethylene. While not yet up and running, Ultra Stretch nonetheless has plenty of interested parties.
“Ultra Stretch is an accepted new technology and we launched it during K,” says Mr Reifenhäuser. “People are interested but we don’t have any running lines. There are over 100 investors who are asking for rolls, and our lines in Troisdorf (the company’s German headquarters) are working on producing these rolls to the customers to test, so they can see this technology is better than that offered by established competitors. We still have to do some intensive homework but we already have orders using this technology.”
Reifenhäuser Sales Director Eugen Friedel explains the appeal of the technology: “By adapting Ultra Stretch to mono-material laminates, Reifenhäuser blown film offers its customers an ecologically and economically sensible, high-performing alternative within packaging production,” he says.
“Compared to conventional film- stretching systems, investment costs for the components are significantly lower, as are energy consumption levels. You’re not only buying a technically outstanding system or component, you’re also getting the entire package of expertise from us, such as film recipes and processing parameters. As a result, our customers can significantly shorten their time to market and work in stable processes shortly after commissioning.” Given current trends, inevitably a major theme at K 2019 was sustainability. Polymer and resin manufacturers and raw material suppliers are being encouraged to use single-family polymers for recyclability, although it is an expensive process. As one of the biggest names in flexible film production, Reifenhäuser is promoting such practices.
“We talked to all the players world- wide,”Mr Reifenhäuser says. “We got input for our technicians. Before Interpack 2020 (in Dusseldorf in May), we will have an in-house show where we will present a lot of interesting input from the market and from entrepreneurs. We will demonstrate our technologies in recycling or recyclable products. We are eager to invest in developing recyclable and recycled products.”
Finally, we discussed digitisation, as most of the big names in manufacturing pass this, and diagnostic support, on to external service teams, whereas previously it would tend to be con- trolled from headquarters. Most big companies speak about digitisation of their work in terms of the productivity of the machine, which has revolutionised production workflows. Accordingly, this is something Reifenhäuser is embracing.
“We have our own app called Reifenhäuser digital,” says Mr Reifenhäuser. “The aim is to take the responsibility from the workers at the machine and develop a software. The target is to have intelligent and clever machines that will issue and receive signals and conduct self-repair of certain workflow technologies. I anticipate we will have this in five to seven years. But the machines cannot do their job alone, so you always need clever guys around!”