Bulletin 1/2011 - Siempelkamp

SieMpelkaMp | MACHInERy AnD PLAntS
As strong international wood-based material manufacturers, the
Kronospan Schweiz AG and its mother company, the Swiss Krono
Group, are present in Russia. Kronospan Russia produces particleboard,
MDF, and HDF at the Egorievsk location close to Moscow.
Even the building supplier Pfleiderer is present close to novgorod
with an MDF/HDF plant. the Egger-Group opened its first particleboard
plant in Shuya in 2006.
To what extent was Siempelkamp able to place its
products with these big players?
At all earlier mentioned wood-based material manufacturers,
Siempelkamp presses and other equipment are operating. For us
this is a very pleasing result!
How close is Siempelkamp to these customers?
For many years we have taken account of the fact that the
Russian market is opening up and developing. Even in difficult
times Siempelkamp was represented with a local office, first just
with a representative office, today with a central sales and service
company in the center of Moscow led by Heinrich Quanz, a
prehistoric rock of the wood-based materials industry. together
with our distribution partner Minto Möbel Handels GmbH in
Cologne, represented by Mikhail Kostjuschkin and Konstantin
Putinzev, we permanently develop interesting new projects. Our
motto, “Invest in lean times and profit in boom times,” meanwhile
goes for all countries of the Russian Federation. Presently,
production plants in the Ukraine, the Republic of Belarus, but
also in the South of Russia and in the distant Khanty Mansiysk
are developed. All the more important is our representative
office in Moscow, firstly, in order to meet the local demand and
secondly, in order to satisfy the growing need for service of our
customers.
How long-term do you rate the chances of a machine
and plant manufacturer for the wood-based material
industry in Russia?
From a present day perspective – I regard the chances as longterm!
to begin with, compared to Western Europe, Russian
consumers have a strong backlog demand. Furthermore, we
come up against an enormous potential for modernization, a
high need for highly technological goods and appropriate knowhow
at the producers. “Made in Germany” is still an important
and unique selling point. With many years of well-founded
experience with the Russian market and the needed products,
the Siempelkamp company especially benefits in this respect.
As sales manager for Eastern Europe you have been
familiar with the Eastern European market for 20 years.
What is the biggest challenge of your work?
For me one of the biggest challenges for a lasting cooperation is
harmonizing the Western way of thinking and acting with the
“Russian soul”. Against this background, we build smaller and
often bigger bridges every day which shall help to reduce
obstacles. More than 70 years ago, Otto Wolff said: “Germany
has to open up the Russian market”. the emphasis here was on
“open up”. In my opinion, the key to success, today more than
ever, lies in the conveying of know-how and the training of
Russian skilled personnel in Germany and Western Europe. By
the way, this is the way Chinese companies have handled it
consistently for more than four decades.
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Hans-Joachim Galinski