Leading global suppliers of compounding equipment for the wire and cable industry, BUSS, is planning to expand its business presence in India. This was revealed by Dr. Philip Nising, CEO, BUSS AG, in his interaction with the Wire & Cable India magazine.
Wire & Cable India: Please walk us through the business journey of BUSS AG, its major milestones and significant achievements.
Philip Nising: BUSS, an internationally active Swiss company, is a leading global machine provider of compounding equipment for the wire and cable industry.
We offer unique compounding solutions that continue to set the standard for heat- or shear-critical applications in the plastics, aluminium, chemical and food industries.
We owe our strength not to size, but to innovation, quality, flexibility and speed of response to customer needs around the compounding technology.
Our unique experience of working very intensely in the industry for over 60 years now, has allowed us to also deliver more than machines or compounding lines, we also deliver the know-how in formulation and product properties to our customers. All of this supports our position in markets, especially in the wire and cable market.
The performance strength and investment security in our compounding systems can be summarised in two words: Swiss quality.
WCI: How do your products cater to the wire & cable industry?
PN: We offer technology for all kinds of cable insulation, starting from PVC, rubber and polyolefins, in particular cross-linkable, filled, zero halogen or semiconductors. We serve the whole range of cable compounds with our compounding machines.
We have other businesses as well apart from wire and cable. We’re in performance plastics, food, and also delivering machines to the aluminium industry, where there is a connection to wire and cable as well because aluminium is also used in making cables. But there we are producing carbon paste in large volumes for the anodes used in aluminium smelters, which in India is also quite a big industry. So altogether, this again makes our presence in India even more interesting.
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WCI: Tell us about your Co-Kneader technology.
PN: We are the original manufacturer of the Co-Kneader, an oscillating or reciprocating single screw that differentiates us from other prominent technologies in the market such as the twin screw extruder. The problem of twin screw extruders is limited temperature and shear control, as well as the amount of fillers you can add. So, this gives BUSS, with our technology, a unique position in the wire and cable industry, where temperature control and dispersion of large amounts of fillers is essential. For example, we can compound polyolefin melt below 200 degrees. Also for PVC and C-PVC, which is very sensitive to temperature, we manage to keep the degradation under control in our machine.
The excellent mixing capabilities of BUSS Co-Kneaders can be attributed to the unique operating principle which features simultaneous rotation and axial oscillation of the mixing and kneading screw shaft. The oscillating screw shaft ensures intensive material exchange in an axial direction by multiple splitting, folding and reorientation of the product. This results in an excellent distributive mixing effect and optimal distribution of the raw materials.
BUSS Co-Kneader technology is particularly effective when liquid components have to be incorporated or high degree of fillers need to be added. In addition, the interaction between the characteristic kneading flights of the screw shaft and the stationary kneading pins accounts for the effective mixing. The oscillating screw shaft motion allows for an extremely short processing length, while the process volume provides enough residence time even for reactive extrusion and grafting.
WCI: How are you ahead of your competitors?
PN: I believe we have been one of the most important players in compounding over the past 70 years with a fantastic brand recognition and reputation. Apart from the technological advantages, we put our customers first and foster a very close relationship. Our size and global presence allows us to be the reliable and reachable partner for the users of our machine, supporting them at eyes’ level. And in addition to our know-how on formulations, which many of our peers don’t have, we can integrate third party equipment, up to full material handling installations, to our own equipment, providing compounding solutions and broad after-sales support, which represents a true advantage to our customers.
WCI: Please share details about your market footprint and major clientele.
PN: We have a worldwide presence with own companies in the US, China and Japan. Our headquarter is in Switzerland. In India, we are building up a local organisation with our partner Reifenhäuser India Marketing Private Limited (RIMPL), located in Mumbai. India has been a very interesting market of late. All big companies in the wire and cable industry, such as those dealing in PVC, HFFR or ZHFR are our customers. I am actually very happy to have a direct and very friendly relationship with our Indian customers.
WCI: How has been your experience while catering to the Indian market?
PN: We have a long-standing presence in this country with a lot of good customers. I visit India at least two to three times a year and am always pleased to spend time with them personally. During my visits I go to their factories to see the machines and also entertain personal relationships with their technical and management teams. I see very good cooperation with our Indian customers.
Currently, we have a much stronger local presence and installed base in India than our competitors, which allows us to invest further in the Indian market. While we have primarily established sales and after sales support so far, we are now planning to increase our local presence to make better use of local suppliers and partners in favour of our customers
WCI: What market challenges do you face and how do you overcome them?
PN: One thing I have noticed in recent years is the competition from China. But I think the customers who invested in Chinese machines witnessed challenges with the available production capacity. The Chinese machines may be much cheaper to purchase, but they usually have a much lower throughput in production because of design limitations. When you make a business plan and compare the investment cost including TCO in view of payback, the choice is typically clear.
On top of that, with our strong after sales support, we maximise the availability of the asset. BUSS has started offering service level agreements, which ensure an intervention time at site in case of a technical problem. We can also guarantee availability of critical spare parts, so I can assure you that when you work with BUSS, you get the best value out of your investment.
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WCI: What is your USP, which sets you apart from others?
PN: Innovation, efficiency and customer proximity are our unique selling points. We have to exceed our customers’ expectations and achieve this only through dependable partnerships. At all times and at all levels, we focus both in thought and deed on our customers’ benefit and satisfaction.
Mistakes and problems may occur in every project, but it’s how you deal with such a situation that sets you apart from your competitors. Our priority is to ensure an impeccable brand image through exceptional performance, fairness, and good relations with all our partners.
“There is a dynamic drive in India, from both, industry and politics, which should make the Europeans envious.”
WCI: What are your future plans with regard to the Indian market?
PN: The Indian economy, especially the wire and cable business in India, has recently witnessed robust growth, which has created a very nice impact on our business. We are planning to widen our business presence in India. The goal is to make it easier for our Indian customers to get support from BUSS with their installed assets and see the value of working with the market leader. We also have to continuously prove that the investment in an original BUSS machine is always a good idea.
Since about the past year, we are really pushing to expand our Indian activities together with Reifenhäuser India out of Mumbai & Delhi. We have a very competent sales team now and are training more service engineers as well. Reifenhäuser is in the privileged position to have 40 technical employees for their different principals.
BUSS in India will have local technical expertise from mechanical to electrical and also process know-how. The goal is to train and to get the know-how up to speed now in India that our customers can rely on a local team to support.
Besides, we are also looking into localization of the value chain in India in the future, with the goal to cooperate as much as possible with local companies for equipment and for wear & tear parts. This shall also enable us to cater to the customers asking us for a turnkey or an extended scope compounding plant from local equipment suppliers.
WCI: How do you see India on the world map?
PN: India is making tremendous development. There is a dynamic drive in India, from both, industry and politics, which should make the Europeans envious. In Europe the industry is more at a stagnation point with a lot of insecurity and ideological discussions that don’t help to make the region very attractive for investments.
We look forward to working and cooperating with our Indian customers. We see much business together for India, as well as for export. India is poised to become very strong in the next years and decades to come.
