Interview with David Arnaud, Product Marketing Director of BOBST at FEFCO 2023.
We are here at FEFCO. How do you like the show?
Well, it’s a great show today for BOBST because we have announced a lot of novelties this year, including the implementation of our industry vision through BOBST Connect, available today for all the BOBST equipment. And also, the comeback of BOBST into the jumbo market. BOBST now offers a large format FFG, enabling the production of large-size, high-strength boxes, including stitching and taping. This is a comeback to this market.
We have also announced a new offline printer, the Master Flex HD +, running at 15,000 feeds per hour. So, a lot of novelties and we are excited about how they will address a better tomorrow than today, which the customer needs in terms of performance, connectivity and improvement of the global workflow. And at BOBST we have also always positioned ourselves in terms of providing end-to-end solutions with these new products, new offers, but also fully implementing our vision to better serve our clients.
Can you tell our audience what the product you bring today is?
So today we are speaking about Flexo post printing. BOBST proposes a full offer. Whatever the converting process required: Printing, die cutting (flatbed or rotary), or folding gluing (in line or offline), stitching, taping, whatever our customers need. BOBST has an offer.
So, this is the proposition: all converting processes in one place. And on top of that, we are leading the digitalization of the workflow and with a fully comprehensive offer. BOBST wants to be fully integrated into the ecosystem of the converters so that they get the best from the equipment in terms of production, but also in terms of quality, service and support.
When customers buy a BOBST machine, it’s not for five years. Our equipment lasts for decades.
What are your expectations after the exhibition? What would you like to achieve after the seminar?
At the show, our target is to clearly position BOBST as a leader in terms of digitalization and automation. This is something the market has requested, and something we must demonstrate clearly to show we can tackle the new challenges that are coming in this rapidly-evolving market. Things are moving really fast today and faster than in the past, even the pandemic period.
With inflation, we face new challenges. The cost of ownership is more important than ever and, with its complete offer, and end-to-end solution, BOBST can propose the best options to its customers for today, obviously, but also with evolutive machines and what they can become in the future. Through retrofits and improvements, we have this versatility and potential of evolution for the needs of tomorrow. And this is really key for us because when customers buy a BOBST machine, it’s not for five years. They last for decades. And during this period, we need to maintain an optimal level of performance for our customers.
How did BOBST perform in 2023? What trials and problems did you face and what achievements have you accomplished till now?
2023 is a year where we have seen improvements in the various issues we all experienced before, including the supply chain issues and sourcing the components, and these improvements mean we can propose to our markets shorter lead times. For us it was difficult to deliver as we used to do. And even with contingency plans, it was complex to manage that. Today we see a huge improvement in the situation, and we are really optimistic for the future in that regard.
Maybe you have a message to your customers, what is your advantage over your competitors on the market and what is your main proposition?
BOBST is well known in the market and has been for decades; a brand that has been known for more than 130 years. Of course, our full portfolio is important, but it’s not only that. It’s what we put on top of it and the possibility of evolution for the future. Our worldwide presence is also a key topic for our customers.
We see more and more big companies growing through acquisitions. It’s not only on one continent now, it’s having a presence across several continents. So to have the same level of performance for the equipment and the service, this is a key differentiator for BOBST. What is a key topic for the future is the implementation of our vision for the industry for corrugated board and through data, bringing access and sharing the data with all stakeholders throughout the packaging value chain. This will be for sure a game changer for people and for customers choosing BOBST.
I believe that BOBST will achieve all the goals for the bright future, and I appreciate the interview. Thank you for your time.
Thank you!
Reporting by Adam Tkalenko – corruga.expert
