At the Erhardt+Leimer Group stand at India Corr Expo 2017, we met an enthusiastic Dhwanil Mehta, product manager of the company, who appeared quite content with the response his company received at the show. “We are getting a healthy number of customers and the footfalls have really picked up. We had the opportunity to meet some of our existing customers and liaise with new prospects as well. The show has been good for us so far and we’re happy to be here. With one full day to go, we hope to met a lot more customers overall, which can turn out to be a lot better than our initial expectations.”
Speaking about the exhibits of his company, Mehta said, “We’re displaying one of our main products called the bridge-guiding system. Though we’ve got just the demo system here, not the actual one, it is good enough for customers to understand the system and how it will benefit them. Another product we’re displaying is the ELCORR roller, which is useful for cross-tension variation and GSM variation in the paper and how we can eliminate it with this roller. We also have our full width roller on display for customers to study it closely; of course, we are there to explain the functions and benefits of this product. Other than that, we have on display posters, some process control systems and software for automatic corrugation plants; we’re here to explain these systems and software to customers who want to know about them.”
The company stand also had on display small components like pneumatic brakes, digital controllers, small products for reel stands of the machines and for automatic tension control. “These are the prominent products for the Indian market. Other than these, we have some more products which are somewhat high-end and have substantial demand outside India; here these products aren’t found very often on the machines and for that reason, we haven’t displayed them here in this show.”
Speaking about the Indian corrugation market, Mehta said, “There is huge potential in the Indian corrugation market although there’s a long way to go before it acquires the scale it has always promised. Erhardt+Leimer has been a partner of the Indian corrugation industry for nearly a decade now. So, certainly, as the corrugation industry in India grows, alongside we’ll also grow. We have sold a large number of products in the Indian market and with more strength we’ll sell more products and introduce new products into the Indian market for our customers.”
He next turned his focus on the current trends, saying how production is becoming a major challenge for the corrugation industry players because of cost escalation. “People are going for high-speed machines, which will help them meet higher demand at lower cost more effectively. There is order volume in this market and corrugators are trying to add up high-end technologies for their machines. Chinese and Taiwanese OEMs have penetrated considerably into the Indian market but now we’re also seeing the arrival of European OEMs not just for corrugation machinery but even for conversion equipment. In the face of such competition, it certainly is a major challenge for us but we are confident of meeting it,” he shared.
Erhardt+Leimer is a group of companies based in Augsburg, Germany with a global presence across Europe, America and Asia. The company was founded in 1919 and today it employs 1,600 people around the world. In 2016, Erhardt+Leimer generated a turnover of EUR 175 million. The core business of the company is automation technology on moving webs, which it offers with different levels of integration across various industries. Erhardt+Leimer offers customized solutions for the corrugating industry specializing in innovative products for the control and process automation of corrugators, which include systems for the wet and dry end area of corrugators. It also offers reliable inspection systems for corrugated board production and further processing.
