Wood & Panel

Christian Frank

Christian Frank

Christian Frank, Regional Sales Manager, Weinig indulges in a quick conversation with Apratim Ghoshal, editor-in-chief, Wood & Panel during the busy days of MEM Industrial, Mexico and updates us on the industry! Excerpts.

woodandpaneleurope How is this MEM Industrial show is so important?
 

Christian Frank: It’s absolutely a change. It’s very interesting, the quality of the visitors we have. We had 60 leads just in the first day which is interesting for us basically because 60 people on a expo at Mexico city; this is something new for us. We can say its high quality and it could be a potential customer for our products. Also, we like the interactive way how the show is organized this year with providers like Felder who is showcasing a production line. It’s very interesting to see German, Austrian and Switzerland companies here in Mexico. The German stand is very interesting as well. There are a lot of companies which I got in contact and to just feel that something is changing and for Hettich Mexico it’s a very big booth.
woodandpaneleurope How you work in this market, with a subsidiary or with a dealer?
Christian Frank: We have agents, sales agents who work from North of Mexico city and south as well. They are working very well. They are with us for more than 20 years now. Since they speak in the same language, they facilitate the market for us and provide service and after sales support as well. They are able to install the machines and make service maintenance. This happens after installation as well as many years later. They also keep spare parts. In fact, they keep coming to Germany for training.
woodandpaneleurope Can you tell me, which are the main machines really important for Mexican market and what are the applications for which industry?
Christian Frank: For furniture applications, flooring moulding is very important. We sell some machines here in Mexico. The most important machines we sell in Mexico are ‘Planers and cross cut saws and presses on finger jointing. These are the popular machines in Mexico. And also, the last year we have introduced some automatic lines including mechanization and scanners for automatic detection of the wood for sorting by colour and quality.
woodandpaneleurope How much Mexican companies adopted the automation?
Christian Frank: I think we are in the beginning. Most of the machines we sell in Mexico are standard machines but the biggest companies are investing in automatic lines, not automatic machines but all complete lines, integrating one, two or three machines at the same time with the connection in between and through. It’s indeed a big change coming.
woodandpaneleurope Beside Mexico, which are the important markets and shows in Latin America?
Christian Frank: For us, the important markets are Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Peru. We are going to Guadalajara, Mexico which is mainly for the furniture. These are the two important shows in Mexico.

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