Lead Feature

Eliminating problems at the interfaces

Germany-headquartered Kreyenborg says with customers worldwide having confidence in its components and machinery, it has become a global partner for the plastics industry, especially in the extrusion and polymerisation sectors.

It has now set up an office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to cater to the Asian region. This is in addition to its offices in the US and China.

PRA spoke to Founder/Owner Jan-Udo Kreyenborg to gain an insight into the company's plans for this region.

PRA: What are Kreyenborg's objectives for the Asian markets?

Jan-Udo: Our main objective is to be closer to the customer, hence providing them with the best support that the Kreyenborg Group strives to offer. The Malaysian office would be taking care of all countries under the Southeast Asian region, including Australia and New Zealand.

We have also realised that customers want to talk to somebody from the manufacturer, which gives them a sense of security and confidence in the manufacturer. Thus, by opening this office we will be able to provide the customer with exactly what they want.

We have also opened this office to be closer to our existing customers in this region - we want to provide them with our top level service.

PRA: How will Kreyenborg be able to serve its customers better in Asia?

Jan-Udo: Malaysia is situated in the middle of the Southeast Asian region, where average travel times are a three-hour flight away. This response time is very good. There is also relatively no time difference between the countries in the region, thus communication is much easier for the customer. Our team in Malaysia also understands the language and culture of customers' in the region, which makes it simple for customers to open up to us.

PRA: Besides, Asia, where else is Kreyenborg present and how are these markets being handled by the company?

Jan-Udo: The headquarters of the Kreyenborg Group are based in Muenster, Germany. We are proud that all of our machines are made in Germany. In Muenster, we have two production facilities for gear pumps, screen changers, polymer valves and underwater pelletisers.

Our innovative infrared dryers IRD as well as extruder feeding systems, universal quick mixers and special silos are manufactured at another facility in Germany, in Senden. The production of BSG's control systems takes place in Uedem.

Furthermore, we have regional offices in Shanghai, China, and in Lawrenceville, US. Our products are also sold worldwide with the support of an agent network covering more then 35 countries.

PRA: In which countries in Asia is Kreyenborg seeing increasing use of its machinery and why?

Jan-Udo: We are seeing an increasing use of our machinery in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

We see higher demand for high performance technology in the field of extrusion auxillary equipment, i.e. our high performance melt filters with backflushing enable extrusion lines to run a high quality PET sheet from PET washed PET flakes and our gear pumps support this process.

Our BKG underwater pelletising systems - the first in the world for engineering polymers - replace a lot strand pelletising systems due to their product and production advantages.

PRA: Is there any new machinery introduced recently by the company, and if yes, for which particular markets/sectors?

Jan-Udo: BKG, a company within the Kreyenborg Group, which manufactures underwater pelletising systems has recently started supplying an economy system. This provides the same flexibility as our standard underwater pelletisers but with a much lower cost impact to the customer.

The system is specifically targeted at customers who are starting the transition from using conventional strand cut technology into underwater technology. In particular, customers especially in the Southeast Asian region realise the benefits of underwater pelletising technology compared to other conventional technologies. These customers are in the compounding, masterbatch as well as the polymerisation sectors.

Kreyenborg Plant Technology is also another company within the Kreyenborg Group that offers a special sort of solution which is quickly becoming a rave in the industry. The infrared drum IRD is able to dry and/or crystallise material in minutes rather than hours. Customers in the recycling industry, especially in PET recycling, are seeing the benefits of this solution as it utilises much less energy to crystallise and dry in one machine as compared to conventional technology. There is also less "in-use" material in the process which would reduce operational costs and issues especially during start-up of production. Kreyenborg Plant Technology's IRDs are known to be very reliable and easy to operate with almost no interruption of production for service or cleaning.

PRA: What is the future outlook for Kreyenborg in Asia?

Jan-Udo: Asia is an important region for our products and we think there will be increasing demand for our German-made machines in the future. Due to our close contact with our customers, we want to help them to be even more successful.