I.V. Verena Ruckh – Head of Advertising & Marketing Department, Brückner Trockentechnik GmbH & Co. KG
How was the year 2018 for BRÜCKNER?
The year 2018 was for BRÜCKNER a really great one. Our turnover was the highest in the company’s complete history. The activity in many markets worldwide made 2018 for BRÜCKNER as a whole a very successful and gratifying year. And we had many innovations which we will present in the market in 2019.
What were the key highlights of 2018?
One of our biggest highlights was the inauguration of our new production facility in the South of Germany, in Bavaria (Tittmoning). With our new plant comprising 25,000 m² of production space and a spacious office wing, we will continue to meet and exceed the high expectations of our customers in the future. The possibility of handling components with a height of up to 12 m and a width of up to 8.80 m means for us a great potential for the future.
With a large number of new, highly automated processing machines, we are in a position to manufacture and supply even larger machines as before, and we will also be able to increase our delivery volume and significantly shorten delivery times. We are very happy about the new modern CNC machine tools, the additional welding robots and the new highlight of the plant: the highly automated powder coating system.
In 2018 we were able to realize a large number of major projects. For example, in the glass fabric and the non-wovens sector and very big lines for the coating and finishing of billboard material. It is also worth mentioning that in addition to many standard and special machines we have sold a number of compressive shrinking ranges and CDRs (Thermosol) in different countries.
Key global markets which did well for BRÜCKNER?
The most important markets were India, China, Bangladesh, the US, Turkey and Mexico. Globally, we sold more machines than in the years before and 2018 was a very successful one for BRÜCKNER, with India proving to be one of the markets with the greatest growth potential, alongside Bangladesh.
Any fresh investments in new plant or capacity expansion?
Beside our “normally” and continuously ongoing research and development activities, the results of which we will present at the ITMA and Techtextil fairs, we invested about 40 million Euro in our new production plant in Tittmoning, Bavaria. We opened this generously dimensioned site in June 2018, and since then many customers visited us there and were highly impressed by our new plant and its features.
How was the Indian market for BRÜCKNER?
India was one of the most prosperous markets for BRÜCKNER in 2018. We sold more machines than in the years before, and we put into operation compressive shrinking lines providing the fabric with a stable structure, a silk-like shining surface and a smooth handle. Also our POWER-COLORTHERM CDRs were a great success. In addition we sold and commissioned a multi-purpose coating line for technical textiles which is functioning well. Our customers are much satisfied and this is, besides the financial aspects, our highest reward.
What are your expectations for 2019?
Globally, there is a lot of uncertainty, and nobody knows where the protectionist tendencies and the global politics will lead us. But we are sure that India will also be one of the most important and most active markets for us in 2019. Besides the classical textile sector, interest is growing also in the field of technical textiles and functionalizations and we are glad to offer tailor-made solutions for all aspects of textile processing.
What are the key parameters which would drive the company’s future growth?
Industry 4.0 is definitely an issue. We have invested and developed a lot in this area, but don’t want to reveal too much yet, as we will be exhibiting these innovations at ITMA. But we can tell you and our customers: it is all about remote diagnosis and maintenance, a new service platform for the communication between us and our customers, digital availability of data and documents, intelligent assistance systems for different areas and simulation tools to support machine operators.
Can you highlight the important initiatives taken by BRÜCKNER in the area of aftersales service and spares?
We have service stations and spareparts warehouses in more than 90 countries, including India where our local partner VOLTAS does a great job. Thus BRÜCKNER stands for fast availability of spareparts and service worldwide. Local technicians are on duty for us in many countries. We have a web shop for spares and we ship the parts within 24 hours if ordered in time. We developed a new service platform as already mentioned. We don’t want to reveal more yet, but this will allow our customers to identify and solve problems much faster and, above all, at much lower costs.
Finally your thoughts on the much awaited ITMA ?
ITMA is the highlight for us every four years. We will exhibit many novelties on the topic Industry 4.0. But this is not our only issue; we also present innovations in areas like denim, continuous dyeing and nonwovens.