GOOD YEARS: An interview with Martin Mc Tigue, BW Papersystems

An interview with Martin Mc Tigue, Director of Product Management, BW Papersystems at FEFCO Technical Seminar

It’s a really good show. We are glad to meet customers again for the first time in almost two years. Shake their hands. It’s really positive. Extremely important to have a possibility to see the latest technologies and to demonstrate what we have. It’s a good chance to share ideas, as well.

What achievements have BW Papersystems had at the markets of Russia and CIS last two years?

■    First of all these were very successful two years. Last year and a half, the CORONA time period, has been very-very good for the packaging industry. And we, like many suppliers, are incredibly busy. Flexo folder gluers, die cutters, and converting equipment is in very big demand. In Russia our business is going very well but in North America it’s really booming. We’ve been sold out for many months. Also we have had huge success in China, where we have a factory in Taiwan and in South China, and these also have sold out for the next few months. So I can say in our industry it couldn’t be better. We are very happy.

What particular machinery has become successful in recent years?

■    For example in California we started up a high-speed triple wall corrugator. It shows that we have a technology for producing microflute triple wall cardboard, which is very useful for food products packaging. In die cutters we also feel very good.

BW runs a new automatic rotary die cutter MaxPro and we already have sold a few machines in the USA and one in Russia. Whole our die cutting line of products is very-very successful and we have multiple installations and we are working at full capacity now.

I can say that outside the USA, Russia is one of our prime markets. We’ve been successful there for many years with our die cutters and folder gluers. Some time ago we installed a single wall corrugator at Pavlovski Posad and recently we’ve upgraded it to a double wall. We have great relationships with this company and we are happy to have such a customer. Also we’ve been invited to more and more projects of full corrugators in the region which is good news for us.

We have the right equipment for Russia. It’s strong and reliable and of course flexible too. I think there are more corrugators to come and good references from Pavlovski will also help. Because manufacturers want to know how the equipment is working in their region. We can create brochures and make advertising but nobody will believe marketing until the customer says: we have it, it’s working very well for us and you can trust these people.

What about converting lines?

■    Converting lines is a much bigger business because a corrugator project may take two years and finishing lines go much faster. It usually takes 6 months from start to finish. And one of the exciting developments which is going on in America and now starting to come across to Europe and Eastern Europe is printing on both sides of the in a single pass. It is a very useful development especially in e-commerce and it has huge potential in Russia and Ukraine.

Do you think BW Papersystems could be a pioneer in this niche?

■    Yes. We came to this segment two years ago in the US starting from one customer. Single pass printing inside and outside it’s a great thing in terms of economy of production floor space, of production time because there’s no need to transport sheets back to the feeder and to print again. Overall it saves money for the manufacturer. Year ago in Germany there was no interest for both sides printing but for the last 6 months we can see a huge interest. So this technology is coming.

How does COVID situation affect the business? Do you have some delays with service, spare parts?

■    Some companies are very centralized with their service centers and they have to travel. We are not like this. We have, for example, 3 Russian speaking technicians living in Russia so they could travel around Russia and Ukraine and serve our customers. Technicians living in Germany could travel around Germany and the same for North America and other parts. And that is good management. But all of us have to track equipment using remote capabilities. Remote service was a trend and COVID pushed it up and forced it to make them even better. This is a big benefit to all OEM.