Plastics News - Show Daily - October 22, 2022 - 6

6 * Plastics News, October 22, 2022
SHOW DAILY
Continued expansion, investment
amid uncertainty at Wittmann
By Karen Laird
Sustainable Plastics
Plastics processing equipment
manufacturer Wittmann
has seen a long-held wish fulfi lled
this year at K.
The company has successfully
Group
acquired more meters and a different
location for its automation
exhibits and is now amply represented
with a technology stand
(F23) in Hall 12, the Wittmann Battenfeld
booth (C06) in Hall 15, exhibits
at the VDMA Circular Economy
Forum, not to mention two
machines on show at the stands
of partner exhibitors.
With seven production cells
running in Hall 15, another two
at the VDMA Circular Economy
Forum and more than 60 exhibits
including fi ve robots
on the expanded
technology stand in Hall 12, Wittmann
is offering a comprehensive
overview of the range of its portfolio
of technologies.
The company, said Michael
WITTMANN
BATTENFELD
Hall 15,
Booth C06
Wittmann, president of Wittmann
Group, speaking at a
news conference just
before the show, has
also expressly aligned
the focus of its exhibits
with the main
themes of the show:
sustainability, the circular
economy and
digitalization.
" For us, these three themes are
very important and very many of
the developments over the past
couple of years have been in this
direction, " Wittmann said.
Uncertain times
This K show is taking place under
wholly different conditions
compared with K 2019.
" In the fi rst place, visitors and
exhibitors are unable to attend
from certain regions of the world,
which means that the number of
visitors from Asia is much lower.
In fact, in advance I expected total
attendance to be down by around
30 percent, so it remains to be
seen what the fi nal numbers will
be, " Wittmann said.
" However, K is still a good platform
to meet important customers
and to have discussions with
them, and we are excited to present
our exhibits here. "
And while in 2019 the main
geopolitical disquiet in Europe
resulted from the protracted process
of Brexit and the uncertainties
this was causing, in 2022 the
war in Ukraine and concomitant
increase in material and energy
prices have played havoc with
the order intake. In the fi scal year
2021, the group realized €376
million in sales, the third-highest
See Wittmann, Page 30
Finally, at K 2022,
'everyone is in one place'
By Karen Laird
Sustainable Plastics
Wittmann CEO Rainer
Weingraber with a new,
all-electric EcoPower DC
180/750+ molding machine
that can run on solar energy.
Plastics News photo by Marco Stepniak
As K 2022 got underway, everyone
was trying to determine
how attendance would be impacted
at the world's biggest
plastics trade show.
But despite everything, Wittmann
CEO Rainer Weingraber noted
in an interview with Sustainable
Plastics that " they are here. "
Q: Are you pleased with how it
has been going until now?
Weingraber: Yes. We've had a
lot of good discussions and a lot
of traffi c to the booth (Hall 15,
Booth C06). And while today's
soaring costs of travel or travel
restraints may affect the number
of drop-by visitors, the number
of business visitors has been at
a good level. They are here. It's
why we also have roughly the
same number of people here as
we usually do. It is important that
our customers can meet and talk
with the person they normally
have contact with, someone who
knows what the customer needs
and [their] specifi cations.
These are relationships that
are built on trust and it is, after
all, why we come to these shows.
Everyone is in one place; they can
come to the stand and there is the
opportunity to show all the new
products. I am very proud of all
the exhibits and the machines we
have here.
It's also good to be exhibiting
under one name. Our customers
can now physically see what has
always been our strength: our
ability to deliver everything from
one hand.
Q: The highlight of the stand
in Hall 15 is clearly the EcoPower
with the solar panels on top,
I think?
Weingraber: Yes, while of
course all our exhibits are interesting,
this one is truly unique. It's
a concept machine. If a customer
requests one, we can supply it,
but it's not part of a series. The
idea is that the company can run
the machine on its own grid, using
wind energy or solar energy, and
allowing it to be independent from
the public grid. This possibility is
becoming more and more interesting
for the industry. It is a development
that is still only at the very
beginning, but we wanted to be
ready for it - to get ahead.
We are showing it here because
the K show is always the place to
demonstrate innovations.
Q: How are economic factors
like increasing interest rates,
infl ation and high energy costs
affecting your customers? Have
you noticed a difference?
Weingraber: Orders have slackened,
as you already heard. But I
think the level will generally remain
good. After the COVID crisis,
we had a very strong recovery.
The market was already overheated
in the fi rst half of 2022. Now,
with the rising interest rates, there
is a cooling-down period in some
parts of the industry - but not all
parts. There are still some sectors
that haven't been affected.
Q: What about internally?
How are these factors affecting
your operations?
Weingraber: For us, the main
challenge is to handle the supply
chain, which is still severely
disrupted, in order to support
deliveries. The delivery time for
a new machine, depending on the
product line, is anywhere from 28
weeks to a year.
Q: Let's talk a bit about energy
effi ciency. Is it something your
customers ask about specifi cally?
Weingraber: Defi nitely. There
is an interest in energy effi ciency.
And in fact, rising energy costs
have given us an additional boost
as we claim to have the most
energy-effi cient machines in the
market, which we can prove via
See Weingraber, Page 30
http://www.kuhne-group.com
Plastics News - Show Daily - October 22, 2022

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