Dear Reader,
As a packaging machine manufacturer, 2006 will go down on record for us as the year of the trade fair: Milan, Barcelona, Frankfurt, Birmingham, Nuremberg, Göteborg, Chicago and Paris.
We had a full schedule, plenty to accomplish, and today we are pleased to be able to report that our order books are in excellent shape.
Any entrepreneur is bound to wonder what is behind the unexpected current demand for packaging machines. First and foremost this can be put down to the number of new products being launched into the marketplace, all of which need to be packaged. And it is impossible not to notice the importance that customers right across the board are now attaching to the flexibility of their new machines.
Another highly gratifying development is also making itself felt: Many a customer who may have previously opted for a machine from the cheaper end of the market has now come to realize that outstanding versitility, a capacity for fast resetting and round-the-clock operation are beyond the capability of the low cost machine.
The road I decided to travel with my company – stripping away complex mechanics, transferring the functional capability to the control system software and using easy-change product-specific tooling – has proved to be the right one. It is this strategy which has culminated in the TLM machine system. The machine system featuring those fantastic system components which together go to make up the ultimate in highly flexible, fully electronically controlled and driven packaging machines.
The fantastic thing about TLM system components is that they number just seven, and these components can be set up for the packaging assignment in hand utilising just the humble PC.
The latest stop-press news is that there are now three new components to add to the list: The deep-draw unit, the film transporter, and the sealing and punching unit. All components which turn the TLM machine into the ultimate ultra-modern, high-performance thermoform, fill and seal machine – or the FFS machine for short. For more details, read the article “Three crooked types”, on page xxx.
If you browse through this edition of Sequence carefully, you will encounter lots of different TLM machines and you are bound to notice that the occasional machine looks different from all the others. This is because we never stop making minor improvements to our TLM system components – improvements designed not only to enhance operating convenience but also to push down manufacturing costs.
It never ceases to amaze me how, by finding new production methods and introducing creative, innovative ideas, it is possible to offset the disadvantages inherent in being a high-wage country.
I am convinced that we can carry on being a high-wage country if we can just bring ourselves to break away from tradition. It is time for a rethink.
Wishing you every enjoyment with this third issue of our Sequence magazine,
Gerhard Schubert
