Putting a premium on training of staff and quality of the product has enabled Marbach to grow from humble beginnings to a world leader. Packaging MEA Technology Editor Vikram Fotedar reports from Marbach Egypt
The Egyptian subsidiary Marbach celebrates its 25th anniversary. This quarter-century of growth began in 1995 when Marbach started a joint venture in Egypt, evolving from a tiny three-man team that set up back in 1923.
Internationalisation began in 1984 as a knock-on effect of what Managing Director Peter Marbach called a revolutionary” year in 1972. “In that year, the first CO2 laser cutting system in Europe for cutting-die production was installed at our Heilbronn plant,” he explains. “This allowed us to achieve unique quality and efficiency in tool production. Increasingly, inquiries came from abroad, so we made the decision to internationalise. First joint ventures and cooperations were followed by new production facilities in various countries.”
By the beginning of the ’90s, the time was drawing ever closer; by chance, Markus Stirnimann, then Subsidiary Manager of the Swiss Marbach Branch Office, met Mohamed Shaheen, now Managing Director of Marbach Egypt, at a private sports event. Mr. Shaheen was very interested in Marbach products and initially offered to be a representative, importing cutting-dies into Egypt. As Marbach tools became more and more popular in Egypt, the company began to consider whether to invest in a local production site.
After the necessary capital had been raised and all formalities completed, the Marbach Joint Venture in Egypt was able to begin operations in June 1995 and started supplying customers in North Africa with cutting tools. A location was quickly selected in Second Industrial Zone, outside Alexandria. In 2004 the company moved to a second location in the free-trade zone of Alexandria.
Emphasis on training
“We started back then with a single 400-watt laser machine and a total of five employees,” says Mr. Shaheen. “In the beginning, our customers were almost all from Egypt. In time, word got around about the exceptional quality of our tools.”
Today – 25 years later – 75 employees work for Marbach Egypt. The production area has been increased considerably. Mr. Shaheen continues: “We have a very modern machine park. This includes several laser machines with a total output of more than 5,000 watts, various milling machines, rule processing machines and water-jet cutting systems.”
Marbach Egypt is one of the Marbach Group’s 24 subsidiaries and supplies more than 1,500 customers with cutting tools in the quality for which it is renowned. The Egypt operation is the company’s base for its MEA operations. Marbach specialises in die-cutting, flat and rotary stripping and blanking, and thermoforming with MM and SR technologies for packaging made of paperboard, corrugated board, plastic and more. It claims to supply the best performance tools for every price range.
The company also offers consulting services throughout the ordering process and all the way through until delivery and beyond, to support clients every step of the way. Marbach places a heavy emphasis on comprehensive training of its staff, working under the motto “More knowledge, more skills”, and offers such training programmes through its academy at its headquarters in Heilbronn, Germany.
Ultimately, Marbach’s goal is to optimise the die-cutting process, through improving efficiency and productivity in the workplace, reducing costs, and producing great packaging to encourage success at the point of sale.
To mark its 25-year anniversary, Marbach invited Packaging MEA technology editor Vikram Fotedar to take a look around its factory in Borg El Arab, Alexandria. Mohammed Abdul Razak from Marbach Egypt showed us the facility explaining all intricate design and die making elements of the process.
Take a look around
Vikram Fotedar (V): So, this is surely a state-of-the-art facility you have established for the MEA regional market.Congratulations! So, from here, which markets do you serve?
Mohammed Abdul Razak (M): Egypt, most of Africa, most Arab regions. We serve Saudi Arabia with fewer facilities, but there is a manufacturing unit. This [Alexandria] facility is catering to North Africa.
V: What is Marbach’s market share here?
M: In Egypt, 90% of the major packaging printers use our dies. We have been in business for the past 25 years. As for the costing and commercial viability, Egypt works out cheaper and more efficient for Africa and Arab countries. Europe works out expensive due to high labour costs.
V: Are your manufacturing and assembling team here all Egyptians?
M: Yes, we have a fully-fledged team for manufacturing and assembling, all based out of Egypt and are all Egyptians. We have a team of 70 which includes an engineering team and accounts but in a month’s time we will touch 100. Since we have new sites coming up, we will also start training [new staff].
V: How long does it take to train somebody up to Marbach’s standards?
M: We hire fresh graduates with technical backgrounds and they are sent to Germany for training. It takes close to a year.
V: Can you share some of the innovations Marbach has introduced to this region?
M: We have introduced Marbaspeed Rubber for high performance, which is long-lasting and helps increase the speed of the machine.
V: Can these dies be reknived?
M: Yes, we have different kinds of dies – wood die, green plate die, metal dies which are also called solid plate dies – and all these dies can be reknived up to five times. We also have steel counter plates.
V: What else is new?
M: Solid steel and steel dies. In Germany they make duramar. What we have is something between the wood die and duramar, with the application similar to duramar with 0.2 tolerance.
V: Do you serve the thermoforming segment in the region?
M: Yes, but we don’t make it here, we support our customers. We also sell spares and provide service. We also sell the knife to cut steel roll, for mould trimming, and so on.
V: Is the tobacco market primarily rotary or flatbed?
M: There is a sizeable market for both, but in case of any challenge they switch to rotary. The main tobacco company is run by the government and we supply the rotary dies to them. They have both rotary and flat bed. They have one machine for flat for small scale. But in case of orders from printing houses, they tend to use flatbed.
Action stations
At this point, Mohammed steered us towards the factory’s design room, where he performed a demonstration of Marbach’s capabilities. Six designers work with Impact CAD software and two laser machines on-site, plus one more in the free zone.
V: What is the maximum die size?
M: This is 100 x 120, 220×150. V: Do you also do dies for corrugated?
V: Do you also do dies for corrugated?
M: Yes.
V: So you have two flats and a rotary as well. You also have flat and rotary die in the free zone.
M: We have the pre-make ready area and six machines to prepare the cutting rolls. From the drawing-room, the job is automatically loaded on to the machine. The cutting roll is prepared here while waiting for the dies. It is cut on the water jet and manually stripped and glued. We have the CNC milling machine for embossing steel counter plate, and the Rillma counter plate for hot foil stamping.
V: How about staff turnover? Are you able to retain the people you want?
M: Most of them yes. We have people who have been with us for over 20 years.
V: How is the business environment in Egypt now? It must have been difficult a few years ago during the revolution.
M: Since we were into exporting dies, it did not affect us much. During this period, most print businesses suffered and some closed while we continued our business.
V: What about competition now?
M: It is competitive in terms of pricing but our quality standard is different.
V: Any plans for expansion?
M: Yes! We have invested in another piece of land which is around 1,300 SQM. This new facility will l allow us a 50-60% increase in terms of size and production.
V: Which sectors within packaging is growing in Egypt and in the region?
M: Thermoforming and corrugated are growing rapidly for plastic disposables and paper cups as well.
V: What is the effect of recycling on the thermoforming business here?
M: Not much. These sectors are growing here and we are supplying dies for these industries with a steady increase.