The ‘Made in Germany’ tag has always held a special attraction globally. It is a tag that is associated with top-notch quality standards and the very best in precision engineering. One name in the textile field which perfectly symbolizes this heady combination is Brückner.
Brückner offers a wide range of products in India, including sanforizing lines, continuous dyeing lines, infrared dryers, relaxation dryers, compactors and stenters for coating, drying and heat-setting. Services like consulting about energy saving and aftersales service are also a part of the company’s portfolio.
In an exclusive interview, Mr. Bo Michael Kristoffersen, Area Sales Manager, Brückner, gave detailed insights into the company’s operations in India, its products, their competitive edge and future plans.
Here are the edited excerpts:
The interaction began with Mr. Kristoffersen offering an overview of the company’s remarkable journey since inception. “The company was founded by Mr. Kurt Brückner in 1949. Our headquarters are located in Leonberg, close to Stuttgart in Germany. We have 200 people working in the facility. Regina Brückner sits there. We have our testing, R&D, service, finance, etc., departments located here. Our production plant is located in Tittmoning, on the Austrian border, in fact it is only about 35 km from Salzburg, Austria. Another 200 people work in this facility.”
Incidentally, the company is investing in a 40 million Euros new plant near the existing facility in Tittmoning. The inauguration of the sprawling 25,000 sq. plant is scheduled for June 2018.
High standards of quality
A strong quality focus has always been a hallmark of Brückner machines. Elaborating further on how it is able to maintain such high standards, Mr. Kristoffersen stated: “Around 80-90% of our products are produced in-house. Only a very few components are outsourced. This gives us greater control over the quality. We have a quality department consisting of 6 staff members exclusively for the purpose,” before adding, “And remember, we are perhaps the only manufacturer who produces everything in Germany, a place renowned for its top-quality precision-engineered products.”
Competition in the stenter machine market segment is getting tougher by the day. Given this scenario, what is it that gives Brückner’s machine the competitive edge? Replying to this query Mr. Kristoffersen listed down, performance, lower cost, higher speed, ease of handling, reliability and low-cost spareparts as some of the key reasons.
Aftersales support
“Thanks to Voltas, our customers can rest assured that they are being backed by excellent aftersales service support too. Moreover, we also offer customized solutions to our customers. We thoroughly analyze queries from customers. We take back samples from them to Germany. We study these samples at our technology center in Leonberg, which is available for tests with fabric and for development purposes. Customers can make tests on a production scale and develop or refine their products together with us. The production data is evaluated in the laboratory, and we are able to provide them the individual machinery configuration,” he observed.
Relationship with Voltas
The company’s relationship with Voltas, which began in 2007 has grown stronger over the years. Going into details Mr. Kristoffersen remarked: “Yes, we do share an excellent relationship. As our sole selling agent, they have been doing great work. In fact, they have played a key role in establishing the Brückner brand in the Indian market.”
Sharing similar views, Mr. Venkatesh Babu, Manager, Voltas, said: “We have developed very good rapport with Brückner. In fact, due to Brückner, we can always tell our customers in the textile industry that we can not only offer technical support, but can also offer ‘technological support’ too. For example, if customers try out a different fabric, both Brückner and Voltas help them. As mentioned earlier, we even arrange for testing the fabric in Brückner’s testing center too.”
Voltas’ service engineers for Brückner are located in Coimbatore, Mumbai, Delhi, and Ahmedabad. Apart from its testing center, the company’s R&D center is based in Leonberg.
Targeting rapid growth
Brückner’s India story is all set for a period of sustained growth in the near future. The company has already sold around 200 machines since 2005. This it is targeting to increase exponentially in the near future.
Some of Brückner’s major clients in India include KPR Mills, SP Mills, KG Denim, Poppys, etc.
“We have targeting tripling our sales this year. We are on the way of achieving this ambitious target. Apart from our range of world-class products, we will also continue to offer advisory competence due to decades of experience, innovative, clever ideas and technologically qualified experts. We will continue to focus on the development of new lines and components for textiles, nonwovens, coated wovens and knitted fabric,” Mr. Kristoffersen said ending the interaction on a positive note.