“Our focus is on extrusion technology. What we are going to develop right now is an interface for manufacturing extrusion systems so that all the data we collect in our line could be shared with the customer for further evaluation and development of the production,” says Thorsten Wilde, Head of Sales and Project Management, SIEBE Engineering, in an interview given to Wire & Cable India.
Wire & Cable India: Tell us about your company.
Thorsten Wilde: SIEBE Engineering is a new part of the KURRE group. Our employees have specialized in extrusion technology. We make products like extruders, accumulators, payoffs, take-ups, complete extrusion lines, etc. Generally, we are in the range of low voltage cables with insulation less than 1kV and for the extrusion technology we use different sizes of screws, ranging from 22mm to 150mm. Regarding the reels, we are starting from 25mm for small reels for very thin material and we are handling up to 3-meter flange size maximum diameter and up to about 12 tons maximum range. That is for payoffs, accumulators, capstans, dancers and so on.
WCI: How are your machines superior to the competition?
TW: We do the complete process in-house. We do mechanical and electrical engineering and complete manufacturing of our machines in-house. We do the assembly, programming and commissioning of all our machines. The contact person for the customer deals from the sales phase up to the final acceptance test of the machine with the customer. I consider this capability as one of our strengths. We always have the same contact partner so that our customers know what they have purchased. And even during the realization of the contract, the customer is in contact with the same person.
WCI: What have you to say for your presence on the market in India?
TW: We are present on the Indian market with contacts of worldwide companies like Leoni, Prysmian, Nexans, etc., that have subsidiaries or plants in India. So, our main contacts, up till now, are in Europe where we work on all kind of projects; and when the engineering and all the parameters are fixed for these projects and we get orders from India, we supply our products to India. We don’t have our own subsidiaries in India but we have installations in India at the subsidiaries of a few European companies.
WCI: Would you like to drum up your business in India?
TW: That may happen in the future. It’s not yet planned because right now we are concentrating on U.S. and Asia. But India is growing fast and through our contacts in European companies, we are making useful business contacts in India.
WCI: What new developments are taking place in your Company? What are your future targets?
TW: Currently, our focus is on extrusion technology. What we are going to develop right now is an interface for manufacturing extrusion systems so that all the data we collect in our line could be shared with the customer for further evaluation and development of the production. This is especially interesting for customers planning to invest in MES systems. In the future, I guess, we will expand our range of products through fiber optics extrusion technology because this seems to be an interesting market. What right now is missing in our portfolio is fiber optics extrusion technology. And that possibly will be our next step.
