Interview in C2 Magazine
The latest issue of C2 Coating and Converting (C2 Europe 97, February 2022) features an exclusive interview with JURMET's Sales Manager - Katarzyna Goździńska, devoted to cooperation with clients in determining the usability of slitters and rewinders.
JURMET's Research and Development Department does not slow down and, despite unfavorable macroeconomic conditions, conducts intensive work on adapting slitters and rewinders to customer requirements. The article presents the latest solutions for process optimization as well as digitization and remote management of data from machine operation.
Enjoy reading!
“Slitters and rewinders must meet customer requirements!”
C2 sat down with Katarzyna Goździńska, Sales Manager at Jurmet (Lubicz, Poland), for an exclusive interview.
Katarzyna Goździńska: For the last two years we have been dealing with difficult macroeconomic conditions due to the pandemic followed by the conflict in Ukraine. These two events confirmed that our internal policy “just in case” rather than “just in time” was correct. In fact, regardless of the trouble with broken supply chains, we manged to deliver slitters and rewinders on time avoiding excessively long execution time. Moreover, our high flexibility allowed us to provide quick responses to supply shortages of components and to replace missing parts. Of course, it required additional efforts and writing a piece of software, but here again – with our internal know-how we could overcome these obstacles promptly. It allowed us to handle day-to-day business as smoothly as possible.
C2: What requirements does a supplier of slitters have to meet in order to achieve success?
K. Goździńska: Before starting a slitter project we analyse carefully each customer’s material mixes because these vary from customer to customer. Depending on the acquired knowledge we offer the most productive and efficient machine taking into consideration the customer’s budget. On this occasion it is wise to mention that we can supply various types of sitters deigned for different industries including the packaging industry, healthcare, paper or car industry, where we supply slitters for electrical car motor components. Therefore, in order to be successful, we are proactive in different industries. Moreover, it is important to offer the latest technology in terms of automation and IIoT technologies with a combination of easy handling of finished reels. Our latest models, including the WINDER3, which we presented for the very first time at K2022, fulfil these requirements. WINDER3 is a state of the art compact slitter in terms of productivity. Its reliable mechanical construction in combination with high class automatic solutions and energy saving design make it unique in the class of compact models.
C2: What is Jurmet’s approach to digitalisation issues?
K. Goździńska: We consider this topic carefully on various levels. Regarding the current production the HML operator touch screen panel can be reached via various end devices such as PC, notebook, tablet, or smartphone. The online access allows a quick reaction to the current production situation. Whereas production data analysis helps to monitor machine performance and to optimise production. Another thing is maintenance services, which can be provided remotely via a cloud, which is important taking into consideration that we supply machines worldwide. We also work on IIoT solutions that allow communication of slitters with other machines in order to eliminate waste of material or to improve quality control (work flow solution). We constantly develop the possibilities of our cloud to provide the customers with access to more detailed information regarding the slitter performance or energy consumption.
C2: How does JURMET deal with challenges such as increased costs or supply chain problems?
K. Goździńska: We have partially managed the increased costs of energy by using solar panels on our plant, which during the summer time can generate up to 50% of our daily energy needs. Regarding the heating, which is needed during wintertime, we have modernised our heating system in order to eliminate the system supplied gas. However, the increasing costs of raw materials and electronics are a huge challenge for us because it forces us to increase prices as we are unable to neutralise all the increasing costs of manufacturing. The good thing is that we have observed better accessibility of the raw materials and electronic components compared to the last two years. This factor is important to us taking into consideration that we already have a huge portfolio of orders for the current year.
link to the interview (page 22)
