Coperion Corp. is expanding its extrusion product offerings to include auxiliary equipment as it transforms itself into a global trading company, officials announced June 24 at NPE.
Incoming Coperion President and Chief Executive Officer Jan van Bakergem said about 40 suppliers of extrusion-related auxiliary equipment have agreed to be part of Coperion's global sourcing base. He cited feeding system specialist Sterling Inc. of Milwaukee as one firm agreeing to work with Coperion. Several other feeding equipment suppliers also agreed to market products through Coperion. The agreements are not exclusive.
Officials said Coperion customers will benefit from volume bundling and resulting cost reductions for auxiliary equipment. Coperion will point to auxiliary choices even if the customer is not buying Coperion extrusion and mixing equipment.
``We will advise the best product for a customer's requirements,'' said Claude Fisher, new president of Coperion Global Trading.
Coperion can help North American customers become aware of suppliers that excel in their markets but that are not active in North America.
``Asian sourcing could be interesting,'' said Asmut Kahn, vice president of sales and marketing for Ramsey, N.J.-based Coperion. Such sourcing could be price-driven in cases when the supplier meets the technical needs of the customer.
Coperion has no plan, however, to radically diversify into nonmixing technologies, such as injection molding.
Van Bakergem said Coperion's board had been considering the global trading strategy for some time prior to his June 1 appointment to head Coperion. He replaced Michael Kenny, who left the company in April. Coperion is restructuring to adapt to the market, Van Bakergem said. The three major business segments of Coperion - Buss, Waeschle and Werner & Pfleiderer - previously focused on large materials companies such as resin producers. They now will be more active, working with midsize companies, said van Bakergem.
Coperion will decentralize its businesses to become more nimble, and will have a higher profile in the field. In the United States, it will set up seven geographic centers, each of which will represent all of Coperion's businesses, supported by experts located elsewhere. Some of these centers may be individuals who will represent Coperion to plastics, food and other industries. The eventual role of the Ramsey headquarters will take a few months to sort out, van Bakergem said.
Van Bakergem is a Dutch national with more than 25 years of experience in executive management in corporate restructuring, developing marketing strategies and identifying new business opportunities. Most recently he was vice president and regional manager for paper and packaging company Frantschach AG of Vienna, Austria. He previously held executive positions with Herkules Verpackungswerke GmbH of Goslar, Germany, and French flooring producer Tarkett Sommer. Other management experience includes senior positions in the automotive industry and in technical consumer goods.
