Insight

This year saw BÄCKER invest over €1.7 million to modernise its machine park in Erndtebrück-Schameder. Here we caught up with Alena Wied, marketing manager at BÄCKER, to find out all about its new manufacturing capabilities, as well as the benefits of using plastic screws across key industries.

A big factor within the market has obviously been the Covid-19 pandemic. How have the last two years developed for BÄCKER GmbH & Co KG?

“Despite the pandemic, 2020 was the best selling year in the company’s history. 2021 is also looking to be positive and as we stand, we believe we’ll end the year stronger in terms of sales and earnings. During the pandemic, prices no longer became a decisive purchasing decision for our potential customers because they were struggling to purchase from Asia. This meant we could position ourselves to supply new customers as they looked for new suppliers and alternative products. 

Although we did have such a strong 2020, we still faced challenges. During the pandemic we faced, and still do, the supply challenge of raw materials and rising prices. We predict this situation will continue into next year, with prices already extremely unstable and difficult to predict. To add to this, we’re also seeing a shortage of truck drivers across Germany – which is being put down to Covid-19. Not only that, but goods are being ordered online with such a pace that there’s longer transit times for freight and less flexibility in delivery times.”

BÄCKER has invested over €1.7 million to modernise its production capabilities, tell us more about these manufacturing capabilities.

“We have the experience and professional expertise to make advanced injection moulded parts with high performance polymers, engineering thermoplastics and bulk plastics. In April we modernised a third of our entire machine park with new, more powerful and, above all, more energy efficient machines.

Our production encompasses the latest generation modern and fully automatic ARBURG injection moulding machines from 250kN to 3,500kN, which enables us to supply a wide range of injection moulded products – weighing between 1g and 800g. Our new machines can produce around 1.4 seconds faster per stroke, meaning a 20% – 25% higher output is possible.

In addition, we are also able to supply hybrid solutions combining both plastic and metal; manufacture inexpensive products with internal and external thread; as well as products according to drawing. Our factory produces 24/7, with all the machines connected online via the ARBURG host computing system (ALS) – making it possible to monitor production anywhere within the business. By monitoring the machines, we can see everything that we need, including which machines are running and how long it is going to take to produce a particular batch.

As part of our latest investment, the raw material supply for the plant was also modernised. The raw material is now transported to the machines by means of a vacuum suction device, making it much quieter whilst also filtering the dust from the raw material.”

Tell us a bit more about your extensive product range, as well as which key markets you supply.

“BÄCKER stands for competence in every industry. We manufacture products for leading industrial companies from various industries including electrical engineering, electronics, medical technology, mechanical and plant engineering, automotive, chemical, shipbuilding, leisure and sports equipment, as well as the sanitary industries.

We have an extensive product range of more than 5,000 items with a total of 23,000 different variants and dimensions of the three different product groups – PlacoGrip®, PlacoTec® and PlacoCap®. These include clamping levers, locking pins, grip elements, plastic screws, nuts, protective caps and many other products.

In addition to our standard items, we also produce special parts made of plastic, according to customers’ drawings. Our team of specialists is available to our customers in every project phase, from planning to series production.

Sometimes our parts are tiny, but their impact is huge. Our products can be found in a variety of places – when mowing the lawn, shopping with a rollator mobility aid – providing a secure hold, as well as at a concert – ensuring the lamps are firmly mounted. We are proud of the application areas we can cover with our products and count ourselves as one of the market leaders in Europe. 60% – 70% of our customers are in Germany, with the remainder in Europe and overseas.”

What are your plans for the future? Where do you see opportunities for the business?

“We will continue to invest in new technologies and improve our processes, together with modern machines and systems. By focusing on the needs of our customers, we will expand our product range accordingly.

The plastics market is a growing market so there is a keen interest in our products and their capabilities. Plastic products offer multiple benefits to customers. They are lightweight, offer good insulation/non-conductive, have a high heat resistance, and are available in a variety of different materials, colours and sizes – giving customers as much flexibility as possible. There are now high performance plastics, such as Grivory, which can partially replace metal fastenings with regard to the strength. Therefore, fastenings made from plastic have become a real alternative to metal in many areas.

Another opportunity is our focus on the PlacoTec series. Not only are they lighter than metal they are also corrosion resistant and have no electrical conductivity. In addition, they can be ideally exchanged for conventional metal products in certain areas by adding fibreglass or other solid plastics. The plastic items are particularly suitable for outdoor use because they are corrosion resistant. These articles are sold in large numbers, especially to dealers.”