PETpla.net Insider 01+02 / 2018

PACKAGING / PALLETISING PET planet Insider Vol. 19 No. 01+02/18 www.petpla.net 36 Good service means rapid service by Kay Barton Engel Machinery (Thailand) Ltd., June 27, 2017 We met: Mr Romain Reyre, President South East Asia Engel, the mechanical engineering firm headquartered in Schwertberg, Austria, is estab- lished as one of the leaders in the world’s injection moulding market. Founded over 70 years ago, the family business has grown into a global network, with representation in more than 85 countries. Its revenues totalled more than US$1.5bn in financial year 2016/2017. Engel sees great potential for growth in South East Asia, and is increasingly focusing on local presence and corporate development there. With this in mind, the Group estab- lished the position of President South East Asia. Fifty-year-old Romain Reyre, who has 25 years’ experience in plastic processing, focusing on packaging technology, was appointed to the post in October 2016. As part of the Go With The Flow Tour, we met him in Bangkok, the home of Engel’s local representa- tion and spare parts warehouse. In what tends to be the conservative environment of mechanical engineering, Romain Reyre stands out somehow; at least, he does on the interview date with PETplanet Insider. When this married father of one greeted us at a table in the Chatrium café, he had his motorcycle helmet by his side; in this city, you can simply get around faster on two wheels. His jobs have already taken this native Frenchman halfway around the world over the course of his career; he and his family have been living in Bangkok since 2015. Mr Reyre’s employment with air conveyor manufacturer NTS France in the early 1990s led him to forge a close cooperation with Sidel, who became his new employer which is why he went to the USA in 1998. At the beginning of the 2000s he moved back to France, working as sales director central Europe alongside Dominique Lipinski, Vice President for the zone and now CEO of Tech- Long Europe. With the takeover by Tetra Laval in 2003 Mr Reyre’s role in the company took him to Austria for over four years, then for another two in the USA where, among other tasks, he managed the Coca-Cola Atlanta account for Sidel. He then returned to France, where he spent three years with key clients such as Alpla, Unilever and Danone before moving to Mexico in late 2011 where he was responsible for mar- keting and business development for Latin America. “After a total of 19 years at Sidel, it was time for me to do something new, so I decided to take over the respon- sibility as President South East Asia for Engel.” This new position is integral to the future strategy of the plastic injec- tion machine manufacturer in South East Asia, which, among other things, intends to carry out a broad optimisa- tion of its service provision. Mr Reyre coordinates 40 specialists and is responsible for the current comple- ment of 30 sales and service staff across the region. “Service is the most important thing for our customers and we aspire to be the leading supplier in this field,” explains Mr Reyre. “For this purpose, we have appointed Mr Dave Lock, as Regional Service Director. He has been exclusively responsible for the service division since April and reports directly to me. Michael Hofstaetter is our plastic processing expert. He is also based in Bangkok and his solid know-how helps our customers reduce energy consumption, optimise cycle times and improve parts quality.” Engel currently has around 3,000 machines in the South East Asian market; Bangkok will now become the central hub for the entire area. At the moment, spare parts worth around US$8 million are in storage near the airport, Mr Reyre explains that the company is striving to provide same- day shipment across the region. A 1,000m 2 complex is planned to be built by the end of 2018 and it will become the headquarter for Engel SEA, as well as accommodating a showroom and a training centre for Engel customers and staff. The company’s sales figures for packaging applications in SEA are in double digits, amounting to about 30 units, mostly for caps and thin wall containers with IML. “The market is developing towards more performance-driven machines, with high cavitation and a big focus on energy efficiency. In terms of services our customers are more and more looking for process support, service proximity, and we have started receiv- ing a lot of inquiries on industry 4.0 for multi machines and multi-site man- agement. “We are also monitoring trends for lightweight caps in the beverage industry very closely,” Mr Reyre says, and concludes with a smile: “I am defi- nitely very happy about my new job.” www.engelglobal.com Tour Sponsors: Mr Romain Reyre, President South East Asia at Engel Machinery Thailand