The 2014 financial year was an especially good year for BST International and eltromat. The two leading companies in the field of quality assurance and production optimization in the web processing industry had agreed to embark on a shared path in the future - and merged together to form the full service provider, BST eltromat International. The company's stated goal was and remains the creation of a single company from two strong components which far exceeds the performance of the former businesses. One year after the merger the executive team has been able to draw its initial conclusions - and they are exceptionally positive.
"In merging the companies BST International and eltromat we followed three key goals," explains Dr. Johann-Carsten Kipp, an Executive Director with responsibility for the technical division at BST eltromat. "It was basically about achieving a size and a level of financial strength which enables us to be on an equal footing with our major national and international customers." The merger of the two companies is now enabling a superior level of market access, especially to the growing markets in Asia, highlights Dr. Kipp. The new company is also more up-to-the-minute in terms of the latest technical developments and enhancements. The merging of the development departments means BST eltromat is able to boast an extended range of products and a degree of technical expertise which is unique in its form in the market. "We have now developed our first products together, which were received by our customers very enthusiastically at the ICE trade show in Munich which has just finished," summarizes Dr. Kipp.
Kristian Jünke, Sales Director, also confirms that "the merger of our two companies has already proven to have been a good decision and the right one." The company can now manage its customers more intensively and respond to the market and application-related requirements on a more targeted basis. "With its extended range of products, BST eltromat is now considered to be a strong supplier which is the only company to offer its entire product range in the fields of quality assurance and the safeguarding of production in the web processing industry from one single source. Achieving this market position was one of our declared goals," explains Jünke. In terms of the personnel situation at BST and eltromat, a conscious decision was also taken to retain all of the sales and service staff as well as all of the development employees and to establish new teams. "The courage to go ahead with the merger has brought benefits for everyone - the company BST eltromat, our employees, our customers and our partners," highlights Jünke, summarizing the positive development. "But despite the good news, this isn't the time to rest on our laurels. There is a lot that we want to do and we are very much looking forward to the future challenges."
The executive team at BST eltromat is in agreement when it comes to the positive assessment of the company merger. "There have proven to be clear benefits from the commercial point of view," explains Dr. Gunter Tautorus, Managing Director of BST eltromat. The merger of the two companies has enabled areas of duplication to be discarded and to make clear costs reductions in several areas. The strengthened financial situation means the company is able to rise to future technological challenges more effectively and can strengthen its market position. The feedback from external sources has also given Dr. Gunter Tautorus reason to be confident: "We have received a considerable amount of positive feedback about the merger of BST International and eltromat, both from customers and partners and within the company group". As a 100% subsidiary of EMG Automation GmbH, BST eltromat is part of both elexis and the SMS Group. The shareholders also view the company merger in a very positive light. "The merger has enabled us to attain goals which would have been very hard for either of the two former companies to have ever achieved. Another key point is that we have also been able to reduce our product introduction periods - from the development to the market launch - very considerably." The process of integration is not yet completely over, however, it has been possible to complete all of the key tasks this year, the process will be finally completed in 2016, explains Dr. Tautorus.
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