Extrusion Asia Edition 2-2020

31 Extrusion Asia Edition 2/2020 What does ECON pride itself in as a company? Gerhard Hehenberger : Since its foundation in 1999, ECON has recorded a steady and stable growth, which has made us a successful company. It is particularly pleasing that we were able to establish our brand on the world market in this very short period of time. The worldwide success of ECON is based on the innovative ECON-technology. Numerous patents and awards, such as the State Prize of Innovation, verify our inventive spirit. What stands out about ECON’s underwater pelletizing systems? Hehenberger : First of all, our machines offer a high process stability. Our unique technology - the patented thermal insula- tion – makes a perfect production possible. To meet the needs of our target group we offer tailor-made solutions for every customer. As a development partner, we constantly implement new customer-specific solutions. Our customers especially ap- preciate our fast and short decision-making processes, as well as technically excellent and durable products. Our customer service department is also a very important part of the company. Fast response times and high availability of technicians characterize our customer service. The training of our employees is our focus, as we want to ensure a high service quality. Furthermore, we offer various customized service agreements to guarantee a fast delivery of spare parts. As a modern company, we ensure that we can support our custom- ers at any time. Therefore, we are permanently improving our remote service system. Which products/projects are you very proud of? Hehenberger : In 2019 we introduced our innovative product ECONia – the first fully automated pelletizing system. From my point of view, we were able to set another milestone with this machine. Therefore, it is a very important product develop- ment. This special machine combines the advantages of ther- mal separation and industry 4.0. An integrated robot takes over the usual operating processes, such as starting the machine, as well as changing the knife carrier. This automation step enables the operator to operate and control more than 10 lines simul- taneously from his control center. The integrated artificial intel- ligence makes the production much more simple and efficient. An inline monitoring system measures the pellets to ensure the best quality. ➠ ECON GmbH ECON Head office Austria Biergasse 9, 4616 Weißkirchen/Traun, Austria www.econ.eu , office@econ.eu Subsidiaries in China, USA and India ➠ ECON China Ltd. alexwang@econcn.com | www.econ.eu Building 3, No. 1889 West Zhonghuayuan Road, Yushan town | Kunshan City | Jiangsu Province 215301 People’s Republic of China How does ECON deal with the current situation? Hehenberger : Like many other companies, we are facing new challenges due to the current situation. ECON is using this ex- traordinary time to build up personnel for the future and to of- fer employees the opportunity to expand their expertise. Thus, we are preparing for the time after the pandemic. As a reliable partner, we have even sent a service technician to the USA in order to provide our customers the best possible local support – even in challenging times. What are some of the challenges facing the company and how are they overcome? Hehenberger : The current international travel restrictions and the cancellation of trade fairs – as the most important commu- nication channel – make market development a task that we had to rethink. However, the digital world offers a real possibi- lity to be there for our customers. The challenge here is to find the right communication channels to reach our target group. It is therefore essential to stay up-to-date permanently. What does the future hold for ECON? Hehenberger : As in the past, ECON will continue to focus on the development of innovative products in order to meet cus- tomer needs as good as possible. We have also planned to develop new markets and thus create a positive future for ECON. Thank you for our conversation Mr. Hehenberger. www.smart-extrusion.com