The key exhibit at Emerson’s booth was the new ultrasonic welding platform for critical small plastic part assembly. Peter L. Byrne, General Manager Europe at Emerson Automation Solutions, commented the way the company sees the best possible approach to meet the market demands.
What new technologies have you presented to Fakuma guests?
Branson Emerson has over 50 years of experience working with manufacturers to develop the broadest portfolio of joining technologies including plastics welding.
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The first technology that Branson brought to the market was ultrasonic welding. Since then almost every decade we’ve been bringing a new technology to the market. It also includes ultrasonic, hot plate, spin, infrared and laser vibration, as well as thermal processing. About 8 years ago we had smaller laser machines. And 2 years ago we brought a portfolio of larger laser machines to the market.
At the Fakuma we have launched the GSX Ultrasonic Welding Platform. It is a new generation of ultrasonic welders that meet the growing demand for the assembly of smaller and more intricate plastic components.
It is primarily meant for the medical, electronics and precision-parts markets. As today plastic components are becoming miniaturized, with intricate designs and thinner plastic walls.
What is your main focus when it comes to smart molding approach?
What is of the interest for those companies involved in smart molding technologies is the design opportunities. It is necessary for them to achieve the needed design and functionality when joining the molded parts. With our technology the parts are easily welded.
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The matter is that we come to work with the companies at the post processing stage. But what is more important, we are always eager to collaborate with companies who strive to improve their own design for molded parts to be easily welded. That is at the very stage of designing a part. Because when you design a part for smart molding without considering possibility of post processing you may not achieve the best solution for that.
Our goal is to help the customer avoid the situations when he has to redesign the mold to optimize the welding. So our advice is to think over the post processing beforehand and to turn to it while it is still about design not about the molded part. And we are always ready to help with it.
Please tell some words about Branson Emerson global wide activities.
We are the market leader in plastics welding in the world. We are present in more than 70 countries. And we have direct presence in all the three regions of the world, Europe, Asia and Americas. We are where our customers are.
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We also have the broadest portfolio of technologies, including ultrasonic, hot plate, spin, infrared and laser vibration, as well as thermal processing.
Our philosophy is to advise our customers using the mutual approach. We do not force one technology to our customer. We try to find out the solution, which would be the best one for some particular part. Since we have a broad product offering, we can offer the solution that makes sense with regard to both productivity and design.
Besides, as a global company we can guarantee that our customers get the same solutions and the same service standards in any country of the world.
What are the most important trade shows for you besides Fakuma?
We take part in Fakuma every year. And now we are looking forward to K 2019. The K-show together with NPE, Chinaplas and IPF Japan are the most significant international events for our company. Fakuma is also very important because of the German, Swiss and Italian markets. It means much for our domestic customers.
What do you think about the visitors at Fakuma? Are they mostly existing customers or the new ones?
Sure, Fakuma is a good event for the existing customers to take the opportunity to see Branson applications at its stand year after year and to discuss various products. But our goal is also to present our technologies to the market and to attract new customers. And on the other hand, we are always open to get to know the new trends on the market, to see the leads at such expo platforms.
What do you think of perspectives in the nearest future on your market?
The situation is constantly changing, of course. Our perspective is that Branson delivers a broad portfolio of products to a wide range of industry segments.
If we look at the market on the whole, possibly we see more uncertainty in the automotive. But other segments, like medical, electronics, hygiene are growing now. And automotive industry is growing regionally. So if we look into the future we may say we are a little bit concerned about what it would be like in the automotive sector in the next few years.
Is the laser welding sector competitive?
Obviously, laser welding is a competitive market. To keep leading we focus on 2 ways. The first is our global presence and the second is our broadest portfolio and our application expertise. And, naturally we are looking for innovations and new applications. We are not alone in the market. And, of course, we strive to be sure our customers get the best possible solutions.
What are your expectations of Fakuma 2018?
The biggest expectation has already been achieved. We had a successful launch of GSX platform here. It is our pride number 1. Our goal was to demonstrate it to the market. We have the state-of-the art product. And another goal is to get to know what is new on the market, new ideas, new applications, new problems for us to solve them.
Do you receive feedback from your clients?
Yes, we look at every client as an opportunity. We survey what we can offer him. We pay much attention to feedback. We do our best to react to the service letters to see if they are happy with what we are giving them. I think that Branson is a company that listens. We listen in terms how we can help in the product development, and in terms of service in every country in the world. And we listen to what the market tells us.
