"Our aim is maximum availability with minimum use of energy and resources"
Mr. Mosca, can you please introduce your company in a few words?
Timo Mosca: With pleasure. My father established it on 1 April 1966. He dealt with strapping technology throughout his life and had to do with the first string tying machines designed here in this country already in the fifties. We have our roots in narrow tape strapping which is widely used in the newspaper industry – and have consistently expanded our portfolio. Actually, we are now represented everywhere where goods are secured for transportation or products are bundled. Worldwide, we have at present 16 subsidiaries, sales offices and production sites in Canada, the USA, Malaysia and Germany.
You manufacture with CO2 neutral solar energy. How important is sustainability for you?
Mosca: For some, sustainability means buying an electrically powered car. For us, this implies maximum availability with minimum use of energy and resources. We strive to produce machines and consumables of the necessary quality level as sustainably as possible. It's not about going to extremes. Our customers would not forgive us if quality suffered to the benefit of sustainability. As far as the tapes are concerned, this means: The right material at the right place. Wherever possible, recyclable material or, alternatively, bioplastics.
How is this approach reflected in your machines?
Mosca: Our machines are exclusively operated with primary energy; we largely refrain from using compressed air or hydraulic systems. Apart from a few applications, we have banned pneumatic systems completely. Because they are one of the biggest energy guzzlers in the engineering industry. For that, we created our own label: GET inside. GET stands for Green Efficiency Technology. We give this label to machines that satisfy requirements of a high level.
Is this your response to the demand, are you acting by conviction – or both?
Mosca: Actually, we didn't have to change much. For me, sustainability also means that a product has a long service life and meets the expectations placed in it. This has always been the guiding principle for Mosca. We established the energy and resources saving ultrasonic welding method as an alternative to heat and friction welding 20 years ago already. Not in order to be green, but because we were convinced that this is the technology with the best future.
What standing does printing and paper technology have for Mosca?
Mosca: Newspaper printing has always been a very important mainstay for us, but it is being replaced by corrugated board now. Newspaper printing is doing badly. Other areas are opening up instead. Packaging printing and printing of promotional material aren't suffering that much. We are present everywhere. Even in papermaking where we are one of the key players. Mail order business is growing as well. For us, the corrugated board industry is even more positive. Nearly every product must be packed and transported. We offer solutions for all aspects along the value chain of paper, corrugated board and carton, including the companies that use them to pack their products. This is a pleasant situation, above all since our strong diversification protects us against the ups and downs of single industries. It also helps in passing on the experience gained in one industry for new impulses in other industries and in transferring solutions ...
...also on an international basis?
Mosca: Absolutely. Especially with regard to services. We are in close contact with the customer, not only in order to sell machines, but also in order to provide comprehensive services. Since in the automated world, all links of the chain must be equally strong. The strapping machine through which every product has to pass at the end must not be a bottleneck. Our offer ranges from the carefree all-inclusive package including a maintenance agreement and the supply of tapes to engineering and training. We can offer our customers whatever they need.
How important is machine manufacturing combined with tape manufacturing?
Mosca: Basically, our machines can process all tapes that are commonly used in the market and comply with the specifications of the machine. However, there are, of course, differences – and that's where we come to the system concept. Reliability and availability in highly automated production processes must be ensured because we have to take responsibility for our product. The tape is a key component of our solutions. We produce tapes that guarantee high operational reliability of the machine. Since we are a machinery manufacturer, our focus differs from that of a pure tape manufacturer who generates margins solely based on cost. We see the functioning system – i.e., the machine and the tape. We focus on the productivity of the customer.
The variety of your tapes is amazing. Will this variety become even larger?
Mosca: Formerly, the tapes were aligned to the performance of the machine. With our technologies, we are in a position to align them more strongly with the needs of our customers and their products. With our system know-how, we can also help our customers save day-to-day consumption cost – for instance, by using 8mm tapes instead of 12mm tapes.
Back to bioplastics. Is that where the future lies?
Mosca: Plastic pollution is a subject of discussion. If, one day, there are political initiatives for guidelines with reference to PP or PET tapes, bioplastics may become an alternative. For the time being, they are still between PP and PET as far as quality is concerned. We are doing research in order to use them for the development of solutions and to improve their properties like temperature resistance or tear resistance. PLA is a raw material in a class of its own; in this respect, development work is needed. This, too, makes Mosca a premium supplier. We invest, launch new technologies in the market and aren't simply following innovations. About ten percent of our members of staff work in R&D.
Are your customers also prepared to pay premium prices?
Mosca: It is true, our machines have their price, but our customers thus acquire the option to cooperate with us on a long-term basis and to find optimum, efficient solutions. Of course, there are suppliers with cheaper offers, but we need not hide as regards total cost of ownership.
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