Interview with Dennis van IJzerloo, Export manager at BARBERAN S.A. at FEFCO 2023.
We are here at FEFCO. How do you like the show?
It’s early days, so it’s the first day. I think it’s a nice turnout. As always, the FEFCO event is well attended by most of the manufacturers in Europe. I would say, like all the years, I presume it will be a good event.
So, tell us what your stand is about. What is your product? What did BARBERAN bring today?
We are the first company that really introduced Single Pass Digital Printing into the corrugated industry. In 2013, we provided the first line to a company in Spain. And since then, we have been developing more solutions for the corrugated industry with respect to single pass digital printing.
Today we are presenting here the Jetmaster 2.0, which is a different version from the first machine that we sold. Where we are now achieving higher speeds up to even 120m per minute through feed speed, and at a higher resolution.
We believe that with the new version of graphene, we are getting very close or at the same level of offset printing, which has been our goal since we started. So, I think that this new version of the machine will be well received by the corrugated factories that are interested in high quality, single pass, high speed printing.
What are your expectations after the show, after the exhibition? What would you like to achieve?
Well, of course, sales, which is of course the main goal, is clear, but in the end, it is about establishing the contact with the people that are interested in digital printing. We believe digital printing is the future of this industry. I always say the same to all my customers: you must do your due diligence and check everything that is out there in the market. Understand your requirements, understand what you need.
Go to visit companies like ours, see what is possible, and then decide whether digital is the right technology for your company. I hope that after the exhibition, there will be more customers making these visits to our company where we can show them the machines and the capabilities and then have positive discussions with these people.
How did your company perform in 2023? And what were your goals and what did you achieve till now?
2023 was a good year. Let’s say, of course, the last few years have been almost too good, as they say. So, we have had very, very strong years. We’ve achieved a lot of what we expected that we had to achieve. We have been able to sell almost seven machines of this new version, which is, I would say, a good step in the right direction.
What we expect for next year is hard to say. Of course, like I said before, we hope to have good contacts with new interested companies and interested in this technology and take it from there. Whether that will lead to new sales, we’ll see. But hopefully, yes.
What are your advantages over your competitors in the market?
I think, let’s say, like I said before, there are different solutions for each company. So, I’m not saying I don’t like to talk about my competition. I always like to talk about what we can offer as a company. I believe we have very good technology, a lot of experience because we, like I said before, we were the first company to really start with Single Pass Digital Printing in the corrugated industry.
So, I would say it’s not so much talking about what the others are doing, but what we are doing, and show this to the customers and then the customer. I believe all customers are clever enough to make their own decision of what the right choice is for them.
Maybe something else you want to add, like from the company or from yourself?
Like I said before, sales have been good. The future looks very bright, new technologies developed. I am sure we will keep on working on new developments, new software, making the machines even better. I think there is a bright future ahead for our company and for digital printing as a technology in this corrugated industry.
Thank you for your time. Thank you for the interview!
Thank you!
Reporting by Adam Tkalenko – corruga.expert
