EDITOUR PETplanet Insider Vol. 23 No. 03/22 www.petpla.net 12 Tour Sponsors: Extrusion blow moulding machines from the German capital - Interview with Bekum Maschinenfabriken GmbH ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’by Kay Barton January 27, 2022 We met: Mr Christian Richard, Sales Administration & Corporate Communications Manager the Berlin Wall looming nearby, we had to come up with some way to expand. The solution was in Traismauer, Austria, where industrial areas and qualified employees for the further development and production of machine parts were available. With the growing product range, capacities in Traismauer increased, where in the course of time complete large blow moulding machines of our Large Blow Moulder series “BA” started. Traismauer’s full responsibility for the development and production of the BA series was finally taken over in 1994. In addition, at Traismauer, there is a state-of-the-art mechanical inhouse and job-order manufacturing facility, which supplies a comprehensive range of flexible and precision manufacturing activities. After With its machinery and systems, Bekum serves both the food and beverage industry and various nonfood sectors, such as the automotive and pharmaceutical industries. The manufacturer has recorded growth of over 10% annually in the years 2019 to 2022 and has managed to take advantage of supply shortages in other engineering firms caused by the pandemic and achieve record sales. Currently, its principal markets are in the packaging sector with handleware bottles for food and beverage. Interview partner Christian Richard, Sales Administration & Corporate Communications Manager at Bekum, has been with the company for more than 27 years and is almost part of the furniture. As an introduction, he told us the history of the company sites: “Back in 1968, with business booming and Bekum Maschinenfabriken GmbH has its headquarters on an industrial estate in the south of Berlin’s Tempelhof-Schöneberg district. It is an original Berlin company and after more than 60 years of its existence, the world of extrusion blow moulding has long been unimaginable without it. Founded in 1959 by Gottfried Mehnert, the company remains family-run and has trodden a continually successful path, delivering various important inventions and patents. When it all started, the still new company became a talking point with its development of the first ring neck calibration. This was followed in 1963 by the first double-station blow moulding machine in the world and then, 13 years later, the first blow moulding machine for six-layer coextrusion. Full order books in the Berlin Wall era and the resulting expansion restrictions in the city led to the establishment of the Traismauer site in Austria in 1968. In 1979, another site was added in Williamston, Michigan, USA, to serve the North American market. But Berlin always remained the nerve centre and beating heart of Bekum, uniting the departments for Sales, Customer Service, Design and Development. The upcoming generation of the entrepreneurial family is ready in the starting blocks to secure the company in the long term. A reason for us to drop into the company’s headquarters. Christian Richard, Sales Administration & Corporate Communications Manager, Bekum
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