Extrusion International 5-2018

60 Extrusion International 5/2018 MEARSING AND CONTROL – INTERVIEW Who buys your measuring and control equipment? Philipp G. Weber: Our customers include machine manufac- turers producing complete film extrusion plants which are then sold to plastic filmmanufacturers. We also sell to plas- tic filmmanufacturers directly. The machine manufacturers integrate our products into their offerings. The plastic film manufacturers upgrade or retrofit our measuring and con- trol equipment to their existing manufacturing plants. Philipp G. Weber (All images: Hch. Kündig & Cie. AG) “We have three main objectives with our products,” says Philipp G. Weber, Managing DirectorandcurrentownerofHch.Kündig&Cie. AG.“Productionshouldincrease;thereshouldbe fewer rejects and quality should bemeticulously monitored.” Kündig, established in 1868, decided in 1972 to branch into process control systems and started Kündig Control Systems. Since the beginning this new department has always been “at the cutting edge” with its most innovative measuring and control equipment for the film extrusion market throughout the world. Equipment that facilitates theproduction of even thinner and simultaneously superior plastic film, thereby saving on raw material and producing less waste. Therefore, it is not only an economical choice to use our products, but also an ecological investment. We have a particularly strong presence in the blown film lines market. Nearly every well-known end product manu- facturer of blown film throughout the world uses at least one of our products. High-quality blown film lines with machine direction orien- tation units use up to four of our inline measuring devices. We also sell the Filmtest 3G offline thickness gauge to film manufacturers and processing firms for quality control and process optimization. This means that films are measured with exactly the same high-precision measuring equipment at both ends of the supply chain. Unlike our competitors’ products, the Filmtest 3G also measures sheet weight simul- taneously with each thickness measurement; eliminating the time and investment required for additional equipment to complete the weighing process. What do your customers particularly value in addition to your high-precision work? Weber: We take great pleasure in meeting customers’ spe- cific requirements and are also happy to take suggested improvements into consideration. We have a particularly close working relationship with machine manufacturers and OEMs throughout the world. Many ideas for product improvements and additional functionality have resulted from joint meetings. There are only three hierarchy levels at Kündig. This means that we have an extremely short decision-making process and our customers benefit from quick answers to their tech- nical or commercial queries. More and more industrial companies are now manufactur- ing in cheaper overseas countries to keep costs down, but you have kept your production facility in Switzerland. Does that make economic sense? Weber: Switzerland stands for precision. High quality prod- ucts fromSwitzerland have an excellent reputation through- out the world. After all, we all know the phrase “as accurate as a Swiss watch.” Our trademark is high-precision work. All our development work and production takes place in our own plant, which means we can guarantee extremely high quality. Many customers buy from us because of our excel- lent image and reputation, which our company has gained over the years. All our products are tested meticulously be- fore they leave the plant. We want to make sure it’s our cus- tomers that come back to us and not our products. An interview with Philipp G. Weber, Hch. K ü ndig & Cie. AG: “We want to make sure it’s our customers that come back to us and not our products.”