PETpla.net Insider 10 / 2011

PREFORM PRODUCTION 39 PET planet insider Vol. 12 No. 10/11 www.petpla.net Ankara Erzurum Ahlat Yerevan Baku of these countries but we shall make every effort to cover the most important countries comprehensively. You will be able to follow the tour on line in our Editour blog at www.braubevi- ale.petpla.net. We shall be reporting regularly here on the problems we encounter during the trip – both the minor vexations and the major obstacles. You will then be able to read the comprehensive market reports in our usual detailed version in PETplanet Insider. To get you in the mood we have printed off the first three blog entries here for you. If you have a production facility in the region and we have not yet spoken to you, please do get in touch with us; we shall be delighted to call on you. The Editour Experience shows that the bottling plants and PET bottle blow moulders tend as a rule to be concentrated into areas where good water is to be found. Depending on the region, that tends to mean a location in the mountains or in unspoilt countryside. Only rarely are such plants found in towns and cities. As far as our regional tour is concerned this means that, once we leave the airport, we will have several hours’ journey by car in front of us before we can appraise the plants locally. However, it is not just the plants them- selves that are of interest to us, it is primarily the people behind them. And what is the best way to go about getting to know these people? By going to lunch with them or perhaps by inviting them to dinner. But then we need a local hotel. Up to now that has always worked somehow, even if booking the hotel and searching around locally has proved to be expensive and time-consuming. A year ago we decided to call a halt to this type of expenditure as well as the time and effort involved and to undertake our regional tours in Europe in a camper van. This would tions what “the trip” would entail in terms of costs. One thing was clear: we needed some support here. Whom could we ask and who would enjoy getting involved in a tour of this kind? Some pivotal machine manufacturers with whom we had been working consistently for years and who maintain a constant presence in these regions and whom we know well were sounded out. The most important list however was the last. On it would depend some of the financing but also the quality contact information on interest- ing PET bottlers, preform manufacturers, cap manufacturers and recyclers whom we could visit in the various countries. And what about the Editourmobil? This was to be given a complete make -over – with eye-catching graphics, a spe- cially designed tour logo, our company logos and also the logos of potential supporters of the project. We can leave that side of it in the capable hands of our graphic designer, Mat- thias Gaumann of Exprim. We are not finished yet: we will need spare parts for the van, and we’ll have to go through bureaucratic hurdles to obtain the necessary visas. Who knows what might go wrong on an Editourmobil like this one? There were visas to get for Armenia and Azerbaijan, and what about sickness insurance? I made it a priority to get all the neces- sary information. For the time being, the other things would have to wait. I started a list. July & August 2011: The talks with the sponsors I established contact with those machine manufacturers we felt might be considered as supporters. The thoroughly positive feedback once they heard about the tour confirmed me in my determination and motivated me for the coming weeks. In spite of an exchange of con- tacts and information which was sluggish in terms of time due to the summer holiday period, I felt that these two months had an incredible effect. Now, after several hundred emails and tel- ephone conversations, what felt like a great weight was lifted from my shoulders, the pro- ject was secure and I could move to the next phase. We managed to obtain six sponsors for our tour who were prepared to support us both financially and with any amount of customer con- tacts. KHS were the first to look forward to the tour, followed by Netstal, Brigl & Bergmeister, GEA, Sidel and Nissei ASB. The next thing was to prepare the PET world for the tour in the forthcoming PETpla.net Insider magazine and, in conjunction with this, to devise an announcement to appear in both the forthcoming PETplanet Insider issues 9 and 10. September 2011: meetings with customers There is still so much to do. Our spon- sors, Messe Nürnberg and other supporting PET firms opened the door for our initial contact with their customers at whose premises the actual meeting for the interview would subse- quently take place. The approach when it comes to agreeing dates for meetings is as a rule