Bobst is one of the world’s leading suppliers of substrate processing, printing and converting equipment and services for the label, flexible packaging, folding carton and corrugated board industries. They always offer new solutions to the industry and they open the way to brighter horizons. We have recently conducted an exclusive interview with Bobst Istanbul officials about their operations and about the entire industry.
What are the key trends shaping the printing industry in 2023?
In 2023, digitalization was at the forefront in the sector. As BOBST, we have a vision of a future where connectivity, digitalization, automation and sustainability are the cornerstones of packaging production. We promise our stakeholders a future where the entire packaging production line will be interconnected and will provide uninterrupted, end-to-end solutions from design to the finished product on the shelf. BOBST has gone beyond just machine production and service and has become a holistic partner that offers packaging solutions from PDF to the final product.
How is the printing industry addressing environmental concerns, such as waste reduction and the use of eco-friendly materials?
The printing industry, like many other sectors, aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to prevent the climate crisis. We are trying to fulfill our responsibility towards water pollution, depletion of natural resources and climate change. We have pledged our commitment to urgent climate action by joining the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Apart from these, while the development of recyclable raw materials and water-based inks continues, reducing the electricity consumption of our machines by 10-20% by the end of 2030 is among our targets.
Are there any notable initiatives or practices being adopted to enhance sustainability in printing processes?
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards are one of the most important steps towards sustainability. Sustainability has an important place in BOBST’s strategy and action plans as part of its vision. At BOBST, sustainability also means expanding our corporate goals to benefit all our stakeholders in order to build a better future. We are committed to conducting our operations and supply base in a way that minimizes environmental pollution and has a positive impact on society.
Are there any new initiatives and applications that are starting to attract attention in the sector?
We endeavor to support the needs of our stakeholders with appropriate innovations by correctly understanding the needs of the sector. Within the framework of our future-oriented vision in automation and end-to-end solutions, we acquired the majority share of Dücker Robotics.
BOBST Connect, which provides its users with information, tools and application data for every stage of production, is one of the most important steps in our goal of facilitating the production processes of our customers and offering them value. TooLink, which contributes to our users to save time during the production phase and increase their overall productivity by shortening their work delivery times, is one of our applications that puts us one step ahead in the sector. With our TooLink application, our customers can save time in the production preparation phase by creating a unique identity for the relevant mold thanks to the chip placed in the molds and processing all the information for the relevant job in a short time.
We can say that DIT (Digital Inspection Table), which helps to easily detect any defect or deviation thanks to the data it receives from the original PDF file thanks to its technology, is one of the most important representatives of our digitalization vision. With these innovations we have developed on the service side, we aim to maintain our identity as the pioneer of the sector by improving the service we offer to our customers day by day.
What challenges is the printing industry facing in 2023, and how are professionals overcoming them?
We can say that the difficulties experienced in accessing financing and the recession in the export markets where the Turkish Packaging Industry is strong, especially in European Countries and the United States of America, and the accompanying low export rates were among the challenges that the sector tried to overcome in 2023. As BOBST, as we have always done, we have worked devotedly to identify the needs of our stakeholders in the most accurate way and to meet their demands in these challenging periods.
How has the global economic landscape affected the printing industry, and what strategies are in place to navigate uncertainties?
The negative effects of the contractions in the main export regions will also be felt in 2024. We believe that the negative impact of the current economic conditions on domestic production costs will make this situation more challenging. The measures taken to exit the current high inflation environment will continue to limit financing resources.
Despite all these negativities, we believe that there will be many business partners who will turn the current conditions into opportunities, as we are the only country in our geography that can remain politically and economically stable. Since all of the equipment in our portfolio are the world’s most productive, most efficient and most precise machines in their class, we are one of the companies that can offer the right solution to our business partners in challenging times. In this respect, we believe that 2024 will be at least as difficult as 2023, but it also contains opportunities.
