Techno-line floor coverings carpet finishing and coating lines from the raw product to the finished article. Depending on the carpet type and the required drying capacity after washing, dyeing or printing, in finishing, coating or laminating Brückner offers different dryer systems.
“Thanks to our very experienced service technicians in Turkey, we have always been able to provide competent support to our customers and we even received one of the largest carpeting orders in 2020.”
Verena Ruckh
In an interview with Verena Ruckh, Head of Advertising and Marketing Department of Brückner, which has been producing complete lines for textile finishing for many years, she was asked all questions about Brückner. Brückner, one of the rare companies that continues to produce in its facilities in Germany, maintains its position as the market leader. Brückner machines, which offer customer-oriented solutions with the technologies it produces, continues to bring in sector representatives.
In which areas do you operate as Brückner? Can you talk about your products and services in general?
Founded by my father more than 70 years ago, BRÜCKNER is the worldwide leading group of companies in the development and construction of complete lines for textile finishing. At first our main activities were ram for classical textile finishing. Meanwhile, we have significantly expanded our portfolio. The topics that summarize our activities are: continuous production lines, machines and the necessary experience and knowledge for drying, finishing, surface applications and coating of mesh-like material. This includes all types of finishing lines for classic textiles, as well as lines for coating and finishing floor coverings, non-wovens or glass fabrics. Naturally, energy consultancy, technological consultancy,
What is your opinion about the significant changes in production methods that can be achieved with fast-paced technology and continuous innovation? How successful have you been in tracking the change and implementing it in your operations?
About three years ago, we set up a completely new production facility in Germany to keep up with this trend. We are clearly able to move faster and more flexibly in our new production facility; large and heavy machinery components can be assembled and transported much more easily and we have automated a large part of the production steps. Our position in Germany is very important to us, as the knowledge of our employees is also very valuable to us in automated processes. Our product portfolio is very wide and our flexibility is very high, so the proximity of our own research and design departments, universities and research partners to our production is crucial in the development of our products, such as research partners. Short distances and regular exchanges guarantee the high quality of our products.
Could you inform us about the level of water and energy savings achieved by choosing Brückner coating and finishing systems? Where would you place yourself in the industry among competitors pursuing sustainability and recycling in their factories?
Finishing is probably the most energy-intensive process in the textile value chain. That’s why we started developing energy-saving systems and promoting environmentally friendly processes years ago. Resource and energy saving aspects are now fundamentally at the forefront in the development of new machines. There are many starting points we have already put in place that our customers can also benefit from, thereby increasing their competitiveness. In order to achieve significant savings in heat and electrical energy, we offer our customers various assistance systems to use lines as energy efficient as possible. Our proven self-flowing air system also provides higher production output with less energy consumption. In addition, Our facilities are equipped with energy-saving drive systems and on-demand heat recovery and air pollution control systems.
With optimized automation heat adjustments and waiting times control, energy savings can be achieved again while increasing efficiency. Above all, however, we offer our customers technological support and training, either at our Technology Center in Leonberg or directly at the customer’s site. Often, when we look at production processes with customers, we discover the potential for greater savings for the entire plant; this can lead to a significant reduction in energy and uptime in individual operations if implemented consistently. While increasing efficiency, energy savings can be achieved again. Above all, however, we offer our customers technological support and training, either at our Technology Center in Leonberg or directly at the customer’s site. Often, when we look at production processes with customers, we discover the potential for greater savings for the entire plant; this can lead to a significant reduction in energy and uptime in individual operations if implemented consistently. While increasing efficiency, energy savings can be achieved again. Above all, however, we offer our customers technological support and training, either at our Technology Center in Leonberg or directly at the customer’s site. Often, when we look at production processes with customers, we discover the potential for greater savings for the entire plant; this can lead to a significant reduction in energy and uptime in individual operations if implemented consistently.
Can you tell us a little about Brückner’s future strategies? At what stage are you at achieving these on a global scale?
As you know, the next ITMA will take place in 2023 and of course every ITMA is an important event for the global textile industry. Until then, we will introduce our customers to even more energy efficient products that we are working on today. At the same time, we are constantly working on an even better remote service for our customers, as the effects of the pandemic have shown that many things can be done online, including commissioning machines. Predictive maintenance of lines will also be a big topic in the future. After all, whatever the price of a machine is – it only costs extra when it is not running and cannot produce. That’s why continuous and expert maintenance supported by remote service is an important standard for the future.
How do you evaluate 2020 for your company? What gains and losses did you experience in 2020? Can you evaluate the global markets and the Turkish market in 2021?
2020 has been an eventful year in many ways – firstly, many customers do not know how to behave with their customers and therefore cancel or postpone orders, and secondly, we have to digitize our work more than before in a very short time. In addition, there were delivery interruptions from subcontractors who could not deliver on time due to Covid. We never had any downtime, but with great flexibility we were able to deliver all orders as planned. The Turkish market has developed very positively after a short period of restraint. Thanks to our very experienced service technicians in Turkey, we have always been able to provide competent support to our customers and even received one of the largest carpeting orders in 2020!
Is there anything you would like to add?
The cooperation with our Turkish customers is always very positive, because the companies have very well trained personnel, they can also use the quality and efficiency of our machines correctly. Many European textile manufacturers are currently moving their supplies to Turkey, and the aforementioned proximity and competencies guarantee fast, reliable and high-quality deliveries. This is only possible thanks to high quality textile machinery installed in Turkey. We would be happy if we could support and partner with more Turkish customers in their production transition to high quality products in the field of classical and technical textiles. Here we can profitably contribute to our many years of experience and know-how.
