Since May 2020, Andreas Koch has been responsible for the printing inks division at Zeller+Gmelin GmbH & Co. KG. His new role coincided with the turbulent first phase of the coronavirus pandemic. However, despite its unforeseeable effects, the division has successfully stayed on course for its original goals under his leadership in recent months. The following article summarizes what these are and what measures are being used to achieve them.
Anyone who takes on a job in a managerial position typically tries to get to know customers and colleagues as quickly as possible and to gain an up-to-date impression of the company's organization through direct contact with employees and subsidiaries. However, instead of personal contacts and travel, video conferences were the only way for Andreas Koch to stay in touch when he took up the position of Head of Printing Inks at Zeller+Gmelin in Eislingen. "It felt like a bit of a joke. But looking back, it still worked, even though it took more time than usual to get used to the new working environment without physical meetings - but with mandatory face masks," explains Andreas Koch. One example is the visit to the important subsidiary Zeller+Gmelin Corporation in Richmond, USA, which was still pending at the time of the interview.
More agility as a mission
Despite all the adverse circumstances, the start in his new position can be described as successful from today's perspective. Many intermediate goals were achieved. It was certainly an advantage that his mission did not involve a major change of course. Andreas Koch can also give specific reasons for this: "Zeller+Gmelin has done a lot of things right in the past. Smart strategic decisions were made and the company has good products." As a result, he is focusing on increasing the company's agility in order to be able to react quickly with course corrections depending on the situation. This also includes enabling regular innovations that can be implemented quickly when a need is identified. This will open up opportunities to noticeably boost the growth rate of the printing inks division once again. "In terms of products," says Andreas Koch, "this means that we at Zeller+Gmelin want to remain at the forefront of the market for UV-curing ink systems, for example. I believe we are on the right track here - especially when it comes to technological trends such as LED UV curing. We will also build up inkjet printing as an additional mainstay and thus establish ourselves in a new market. And we can already report initial successes in this area too."
Of course, the omnipresent megatopic of sustainability is also a must. In this context, the focus is on innovations such as the development of alternative raw materials or compostable printing inks. These are tasks in which Zeller+Gmelin works primarily with partners such as research institutes and raw material manufacturers. At the same time, one of the lessons to be learned from the current market situation will be to reduce the risk of dependence on individual suppliers when procuring raw materials.
Specialization in UV-curing ink systems as a solid basis
From a technological point of view, the trend towards LED UV curing is just picking up speed. According to Andreas Koch, the D/A/CH region, which is typically regarded as a driver of innovation in Europe, is increasingly abandoning its previous observational attitude towards LED. In recent months, this has led to a highly dynamic demand for LED-curable paints and coatings, as the installation of corresponding machines has increased. This development has also been boosted by the sustainability debate. The motivation of many users to invest in LED UV often goes hand in hand with the desire to save energy and emit less CO2. A similar trend can be observed in the USA and China. As Zeller+Gmelin offers corresponding ink series for both flexo and offset printing, the company is benefiting from this market trend. At the same time, the printing ink expert is already working on versions for cup and tube printing as well as for metal printing. Zeller+Gmelin will therefore be able to cover its entire range of applications with LED-curing ink technology in the foreseeable future.
Zeller+Gmelin's extensive expertise and good market position in the field of UV-curing ink systems have also made a promising collaboration possible. The Eislingen-based ink manufacturer was the first choice when Epple Druckfarben AG was looking for a cooperation partner. In future, the two companies will develop new UV inks together. Epple is responsible for the worldwide distribution of UV LED sheet-fed offset inks. This segment is currently experiencing above-average growth because more and more commercial printers are investing in LED technology. The inks are manufactured at the Zeller+Gmelin site in Eislingen.
Project management with short decision-making paths
Andreas Koch sees a steady rate of innovation as an important prerequisite for the printing ink division's continued growth. To this end, a team has been set up to evaluate the ideas collected for innovations and implement them as part of project management. Sales, development and product management sit around a table to scrutinize each idea for its market relevance, feasibility and technical aspects as well as its probability of success. This project management team then decides as quickly as possible which ideas will be processed as a project. The chosen organizational form relies on short decision-making paths and thus ensures that the printing ink manufacturer, as an agile unit, can implement ideas with a high probability of success even faster than before.
The market segment for which a development is intended also plays a role in the evaluation of innovation projects. In tube and cup printing, for example, where Zeller+Gmelin is very well established, according to Andreas Koch, the focus will be on the careful further development of existing products. Projects in segments that are largely new territory for the ink manufacturer - such as inkjet printing - will be tackled with much greater dynamism.
Inkjet is relevant for many industries
Zeller+Gmelin is aiming for growth not only through innovative products, but also by entering new markets, e.g. in the field of inkjet printing. "This segment is a very attractive field of activity because almost all branches of industry are involved in processes such as coating, decorating, precise application, etc. The inkjet sector is particularly interesting for us wherever adhesive films have to be applied with a precise fit or where coatings are applied," explains Andreas Koch. The printing ink expert has succeeded in offering the first products in the UV inkjet sector commercially in a short space of time, thus gaining a foothold in the market. At the same time, the company is already working with partners on projects for water-based inkjet printing.
In addition to the know-how from the general printing sector, the good contacts to suitable partner companies were particularly advantageous for the rapid success. After all, the mechanisms for marketing inkjet inks differ significantly from the business with conventional color systems. Andreas Koch summarizes his many years of experience in this field as follows: "In this segment, there is less classic sales work and more project work. In practice, this means that you look for a partner and develop a new ink system together."
There are various options for such partnerships. One is cooperation with a machine manufacturer, for example to take on the role of ink supplier when developing a new printing system - or at least to be given the role of secondary supplier. Cooperation with industrial partners is also common in order to develop the right printing ink for individual applications. For Zeller+Gmelin, for example, the market segment of molded body printing, for which special ink systems have already been supplied for years, is an obvious choice.
Expertise counts - whether you need to print on airplanes or flyers
With its entry into the inkjet market, Zeller+Gmelin is confronted with new challenges. If the area of application for a printing ink lies outside the traditional printing and packaging industry, projects should usually be managed by specialists who have detailed industry knowledge. This is not the case for all existing sales networks. However, the basis for a development is always the knowledge of which properties an ink needs in order to be printed stably with the print head used and to meet the requirements for adhesion and resistance to various influences (mechanical, chemical or physical) both when applied to the respective surface and in the subsequent end application. "Anyone who is able to do this," says Andreas Koch, "can in theory serve almost all areas of application, regardless of whether a flyer or an airplane is to be printed."
In the meantime, Zeller+Gmelin has had its first successes in the inkjet market. An ink has already been developed for the UV inkjet in the graphic arts sector. At the same time, further projects in various market segments are well underway. In Eislingen, ink production has already started with its own production line. The division has crossed the threshold of profitability and volumes can be gradually ramped up. That sounds like good prospects for the future, as Andreas Koch confirms: "Even if Zeller+Gmelin was not one of the pioneers in inkjet inks, the train has not yet left the station. Our employees have a high level of expertise, which has enabled us to develop saleable products in a short space of time. Due to the number and quality of the various inkjet projects, it is very likely that this product segment will soon be the division with the most dynamic growth. In this case, the production capacity can be scaled at any time by investing in appropriate technical components such as special bead mills for dispersion."
Securing the future with alternative raw materials
The issue of sustainability is determined by legal requirements and public pressure. Against the backdrop of this complex mix, Zeller+Gmelin is trying to find a path that promises long-term success. Andreas Koch believes that the company has already made important decisions for the future. Like everywhere else in the industry, Eislingen is constantly busy replacing individual raw materials in paint formulations because their use is no longer permitted due to legal regulations. However, the company is also investing a great deal of energy in activities such as the search for alternative and sustainable raw materials. An interesting project with the Fraunhofer Institute, for example, involves a reactive binder in the form of hemicellulose. It is obtained from mash, which is a waste product from fruit juice production. The development, which is currently in the initial phase, is also a sensible approach because this raw material does not compete with feed or food crops.
The project for an industrially compostable paint has already been completed. The corresponding certification has been obtained. The deinkability of UV inks is also a much-discussed topic. Zeller+Gmelin had its Uvalux® U40 and Uvalux® LED U540 ink series tested for this property by the independent International Research Association for Deinking Technology (INGEDE). The results impressively disproved the general prejudice that UV inks are supposedly difficult to deink.
The hurdles for pioneering developments in inkjet printing are particularly high. Here, the choice of raw materials is limited by the requirement for very low viscosity alone. The task becomes all the more challenging when special requirements are added, e.g. from the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics or toy sectors. According to Andreas Koch, water-based systems are likely to be the solution for these applications in the future.
About the person
The milestones in Andreas Koch's career seem to find him and not the other way around. He discovered the printing industry by chance through a friend and a student party at the Hochschule für Druck und Medien (HDM) in Stuttgart. Before that, he had trained as a mechanic and was originally interested in studying automotive engineering. The fascination for printing technology has remained with the 53-year-old family man. He would choose the printing industry again. After all, the technology in this segment is developing so innovatively that he can always add exciting new experiences to his CV in each of his professional stations, whether it's printing forms, packaging papers, repro services or printing inks.
While his worldwide travel activities were still very pronounced at the beginning of the 2000s during his work for today's cardboard manufacturer Metsä Board, the smaller radius of action as Managing Director of Rudolph Reproflex in Goslar after the birth of his children suited him well in 2005. When he moved to the Flint Group as Sales Manager with a focus on OEM business in the market segment of the former BASF printing systems, he was able to move the center of his life back to the Stuttgart area with his family. Printing sleeves were a central topic in his numerous contacts with machine manufacturers, as the company rotec had recently been taken over.
Looking back, he sees his ten years at Marabu in Tamm as a very fruitful time. The ink manufacturer, which focuses on screen and pad printing, set up a new inkjet and digital printing division in 2010. The development of this division in particular offered Andreas Koch numerous opportunities to operate beyond the printing and packaging industry. He recalls, for example, projects involving the personalized printing of sports shoes or toy building blocks as well as the design of special models in the automotive sector or aircraft exteriors with a robotic inkjet system.
Andreas Koch has always found his moves into very different areas of responsibility to be a source of inspiration and new energy. The experience he has been able to gather in the process will certainly stand him in good stead in his current role as Head of the Printing Inks Business Unit at Zeller+Gmelin. In this position, he has full responsibility for the global printing ink business and manages all areas from sales, development and product management to technical service. The current focus is on expanding the traditionally successful business area with inks and coatings for analog processes to include innovative solutions for inkjet and digital printing in the short term. In pursuing this goal, he can benefit greatly from his various experiences.
Picture: Andreas Koch, new Head of Printing Inks at Zeller+Gmelin since May 2020.