Paper Technology International 2024 - Journal - Page 35
PAPERTECHNOLOGYINTERNATIONAL
Matchmaking specialist suppliers
M
with manufacturers for sustainable
process improvement
Nicole Buschmeier, KPNB Komponenten+Partner
INTRODUCTION:
For eleven years now, KPNB has been bringing together paper and board producers with suppliers of leading technology and
precise mechanical engineering and manufacturing. We see ourselves nowadays as a networker to support manufacturers with advice
and assistance in order to ensure future development with fewer and fewer staff. We are not traditional salespeople but are always on the
lookout for the best solution for our customers.
Our aim is always to 昀椀nd innovative
and working solutions for paper and board
manufacturers in order to optimise their
production processes and making it more
sustainable by saving resources like energy,
raw materials, additives, time and money.
The company was founded in
December 2012 and originally worked in
various industrial sectors the main market
being Germany, Austria, Switzerland and
the Netherlands. Among the 昀椀rst companies
represented from 2013 were GW Fasertechnik
and its sister companies Hellenbrand
Maschinenbau from the Palatinate, as well as
Unterweser Papiertechnik from Bremen.
In 2014, the focus shifted to the paper
and board industry and the promotion of
small and medium-sized companies primarily
from Germany and Finland with over 20
years of experience and know-how in the
industry. Since 2019, the KPNB-net-work
has repeatedly included innovative companies that are at home in
other industries, whose inventions and developments 昀椀nd useful
applications in the paper and board industry.
All process areas of the production process are served
because customer needs and process optimisation in terms of
ef昀椀ciency and sustainability are the priority.
Help instead of selling.
An open ear for customers, patience and constant
networking are part of KPNB’s recipe for success:
From 2015 onwards, the collaboration with Tasowheel
from Finland - the market leader in the area of cross pro昀椀le control
systems and, since 2022 also with quality control systems in the
portfolio - opened new and different doors.
Since 2018, KPNB has also been working with Lanex
from the Czech Republic, one of the three world market leaders in
technical yarns and crucial here: paper carrier ropes, accessories
and pulper ropes.
In 2020, another Finnish company, Pixact, joined the
KPNB-net-work. A company providing exceptional high-speed
camera monitoring systems for the real-time suspension analysis in
production processes. Individualised analyses and operator displays
are the rule for Pixact projects.
Figure 1: KPNB comic paper mill.
Optimism is a key factor in the KPNB business
Keep going, be patient and don’t run away, if something gets
dif昀椀cult or even goes wrong. – Although after 11 years the latter can
be counted on one hand. And since the German paper industry is
small, word gets around about good and bad behaviour and delivery.
Advertising is another key factor and after 11 years it is a
con昀椀rmation for the owner Nicole Buschmeier that she has done
a lot of things right when people say at trade fairs and symposia
– “who doesn’t know Nicole?” - or the company’s colors and
advertising. KPNB can be found at all important events in the DACH
region.
The nice thing is that the majority of the KPNB-net-work
consists of specialised companies that are small or medium-sized
and therefore respond 昀氀exibly to customer concerns. Dif昀椀cult
challenges and special solutions and the associated innovations are
more standard than exception. KPNB doesn’t offer the impossible,
but is always looking, if there aren’t new, different approaches to
provide solutions. And it often helps to look at the processes as a
career changer, coming from international politics and language
studies to the industry. - And, above all, it is an asset not to be
dependent on one or a few companies.
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