Above: Lars Bendixen and Dale Hawkins
Zünd has shared the reasons why a local subsidiary has been created and where it sees growth outside of graphics and packaging.
Zünd Systemtechnik AG executive, Lars Bendixen, who is responsible for the local market as well as the new Zünd Australia subsidiary, told Sprinter in an exclusive three-part interview there were three clear options available to them when Starleaton went into voluntary administration.
“We could see three options at the time. The first option was to write off the debt and be represented only by our other distribution partner – Canon Production Printing in Australia. The second option was to go out and find another distribution partner to replace Starleaton.
“We decided to take the third option which was to start our own subsidiary. We took this decision because we were able to access highly-experienced and passionate employees like Dale Hawkins as well as other staff previously employed by the Starleaton business who were available to work with us – so on this basis creating a new subsidiary was the best option for us.
“We have had a long relationship with Dale Hawkins since he was at Canon – and he represents the best leader for the future of the Zünd business in Australia.
“The Switzerland to Australia time difference is not ideal and we have also recently taken on Zünd Spain and opened Zünd Brazil – so this has not been the best time for another subsidiary – but this still seemed like the best option for us.
“There are hundreds of Zünd customers in the Australian market and we now need to focus on getting Zünd operational.
“The future is a new beginning. Worldwide, the graphics and packaging market represents about half of our turnover. We sell machines for many other manufacturing applications such as leather, shoes, handbags, fashion, textiles and apparel. We feel that we can represent these markets a lot better directly with our own subsidiary rather than by appointing another distribution partner like Starleaton.
“We hope we can focus on opening up these new market segments in Australia that have not been addressed in the past. We are certainly not neglecting the graphics and packaging markets – but there is certainly other opportunities available under a fully-owned subsidiary.
“We are currently looking for new premises in Melbourne. We currently have four staff employed at the moment – including managing director Dale Hawkins and a team of specialists to deliver service and application support. We are likely to grow to six staff as we will require additional staff to address all of our market opportunities.”
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