Recognizing and filling niches
Naturally, the BOWE GROUP was attending Hunkeler Innovationdays 2025. The highlight of the BOWE SYSTEC presentation was the highly automated Fusion Speed inserting solution, which was equipped with a Hunkeler UW8-R unwinder. We talked to Joachim Koschier, Managing Director of the BOWE GROUP, about the company's successful strategy in a shrinking market segment, as well as the physical limits of the inserting process and how it is still possible to produce faster with the Flow-Principle.

Which of its solutions did BOWE focus on at Hunkeler Innovationdays?
The key element was our high-end Fusion Speed inserting solution. This is the fastest and most efficient model of the series, with an output of up to 30,000 envelopes per hour. Its incredible speed is possible thanks to the Flow-Principle we have developed – a method which slows down the inserting process by a factor of 4.5 to allow more time for precise inserting. We all know the physics: If paper is processed too quickly, it either overshoots or punctures the bottom of the envelope. In this respect, our tests were clear. However, by reducing the filling speed, we can ultimately increase the production speed – as contradictory as that may initially sound. Compare it to driving onto a highway from an on-ramp. The on-ramp facilitates the merging process and prevents cars from simply colliding with each other. Being able to adapt your speed to the prevailing speed ahead, allows everything to run smoothly and quickly. The same applies to our Flow-Principle, resulting in a reliable production process with an extremely high net output. Our BOXIT system is now supplied with the Fusion Speed inserter as standard for automated postal tray filling. It takes filled envelopes and automatically places them in postal trays, thereby reducing the required workforce to just one operator for the entire inserting system. This is highly significant when faced with the current shortage of skilled labor. Nevertheless, BOXIT signifies another consistent step towards ensuring greater output by bundling innovations from across all our divisions and integrating them for further automation. For example, this allows us to offer a robotic arm, which picks up the trays and AMRs (Autonomous Mobile Robots) that collect the pallets. All of this is controlled by our high-performance IQ software. We now have seven Fusion Speed installations with BOXIT on the market and have been able to demonstrate the configuration’s robustness in practice. At Hunkeler Innovationdays, we equipped our flagship inserting system with a Hunkeler UW8-Runwinder and presented a live demonstration of a high-performance mailroom automation system to visitors in Lucerne. As with all our Fusion systems, it was controlled via the intuitive BOWE Cockpit app. 

The transactional printing and mailing business is a shrinking market. How is this affecting your business?
We have certainly noticed that the market is shrinking significantly. Nevertheless, we have managed to achieve a gain of seven million euros in this core segment. This places us well ahead of our target, in a shrinking market segment – a fact that surprises me once again. This has been possible because we’ve been able to replace our competitors' installations with our own solutions. There is no other way to achieve such growth in this market segment. After all, we are all aware that this market is continuing to decline overall. While acquiring new customers, our service business has also increased accordingly, as our new customers include some large companies who are increasingly using and appreciating our service. To continue to successfully maintain our position in this market segment and differentiate ourselves from the competition, we are focusing on the expansion of complete automation, as we demonstrated at BOWE Exclusive Days. Two customers are currently introducing the concept in their operations. In all probability, we will see the first German installation to operate entirely without personnel by the end of the year or the beginning of the next. Two to three high-speed machines will be placed one behind the other and a robot will be used to pack the postal trays for the mail routes or pallets. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find qualified employees in the transactional printing and mailing segment in particular, especially for tasks such as loading and packing. This job is too unattractive and too poorly paid. You are constantly breathing in paper dust, your hands become raw and it is physically very strenuous. For this reason, we decided to convert this work step into a fully automated process. Of course, we are aware that this high degree of automation is not suitable for all our customers, but it will be of particular interest to large companies.

What are your expectations for the upcoming financial year?
We are still not experiencing a disproportionate loss in sales but are actually growing slightly, as we have succeeded in gaining additional market share. This confirms our approach. Each January, I reconsider how I can ensure that our order books are filled by the end of the year. I then know more by June/July. This year is already looking quite good for BOWE, but nobody knows what it will be like in 2026 or 2027. There are so many external factors at play that it's impossible to predict with any foresight. This is why it is also important for BOWE to operate profitably in our new business areas. Our success is based on hard work, day by day. And we will continue in this fashion.

In your opinion, why are so many customers switching to your company's inserting solutions?
I’m certain this has to do with the special strategy we’re pursuing. We have identified the weak points in our market competitors’ systems. Ultimately, this means that all we have to do is ensure that our systems meet these requirements without any problems. This has to be communicated clearly, and because actions speak louder than words, we simply give our customers the opportunity to test our machines. When they see how efficiently and smoothly they operate in day-to-day production, they are convinced. In other words, our machines speak for our solutions. They stand out with their high level of production reliability, their impressive speeds and their uncomplicated handling. Not every manufacturer can offer this. Of course, at trade shows and events like the one in Lucerne, visitors see only smooth processing results. Let’s be honest: the parameters for a trade show demonstration can be influenced in such a way that the result is perfect every time. You use your own materials, your own envelopes and all under perfect conditions. However, this is not what customers need in practice. They need a solution that will also work as smoothly under their conditions and production parameters. And this is where the wheat is quickly separated from the chaff, and where previously unidentified obstacles and problems are encountered. That's why our sales model is different. We agree in advance what our machine should be able to do without our help. Then, after an agreed period of time, the customer decides whether they have been convinced in practice and day-to-day production. The outcome is always that they wouldn’t want to be without our machine. I can say, hand on heart, we couldn't afford and we don’t expect any other outcome. When we deliver a machine, we know that it will deliver what we promised. This is our simple recipe for success!

So, the BOWE GROUP will continue to invest in new technologies and solutions for this market segment? 
We are still investing four to five percent of our turnover in research and development. We continue to develop organically and all our new developments are based on our own ideas. We rely on customers recognizing and appreciating this and that this gives them an additional level of trust in our solutions. Although everyone says the transactional printing and mailing market is dead, that's not true. It's just not growing any further and that's wholly sufficient for our business. We are assertively pursuing a “last-man-standing strategy” with respect to the transactional and mailing market. As part of this, we are continuously optimizing our solutions. And our success proves us right. The philosophy behind our development is always that the machine must be easy enough to operate that hardly any know-how is required to handle it. In the past, we came from an environment in which highly trained technicians were needed to get such a machine up and running. Today, an operator receives half a day's training and is then able to work smoothly with our systems. Other aspects that are very important to us include reducing the workload on staff and the user-friendliness of our systems. We don't want the operator to have to work like a slave at the output, but instead to have enough time to perform their tasks reliably. That's why we supply the postal tray system as a free add-on for the Fusion Speed. High speeds are maintained by the postal tray system without any problems. This relieves the operator’s workload and ensures greater production reliability and a more comfortable working environment. This concept has been very well received by our customers. The BOXIT concept resulted from immediate feedback from our customers. 
While the BOWE Fusion Speed is the fastest and most reliable machine on the market, the problem was that, over time, it was simply too fast for operators. It fills a box in 50 seconds. Each box is only a small weight that needs to be lifted, but the high total number of boxes spread over the working day presents an enormous physical challenge. An operator has to lift three and a half tons per shift. The concept behind our postal tray system relieves the strain on operators and has been warmly received by our customers. Incidentally, not only by our customers, but also by a number of other manufacturers who wanted to create a similar solution to relieve the strain on operating personnel. For example, there was a solution demonstrated in Lucerne that had a robot arm performing the same task as our BOXIT system. Another manufacturer also presented a similar postal tray system. However, these solutions would cost several hundred thousand euros on their own. This is far too expensive for this market. We have designed our system to be as lean as possible. It consists of only two conveyor belts and a lift. Nothing more is necessary. Our goal was to develop something that we could simply add to our solution free of charge to relieve the operator, simplify the process even further, optimize the workload, make it as effective as possible and, of course, set our solution apart from others on the market.

Are there any new solutions from BOWE SYSTEC in the pipeline?
Indeed, there are. By the end of the year, we will have two exciting innovations for direct marketing that we believe will make a significant difference. We will be introducing something to the enclosure development segment that has never been seen before on the market. We are creating a completely new way to singulate enclosures. This machine will run at a speed of 30,000 pieces per hour. We have made this possible by rethinking the singulation process. Until now, the slot for the enclosure had to be measured precisely – a process that is more difficult for 70 grams than for 90 grams. Alternatively, there was a method in which the insertion was carried out using suction air. However, the challenge here is obvious: If too much suction air is used, two or three specimens are sucked in at once; if too little is used, none are drawn-off. These standard techniques all have their advantages and disadvantages. We have now developed a new method combining both techniques and their individual advantages. 
We have also developed a new solution for plastic card mailing that will revolutionize the market. We are replacing about three meters of machine with a single folder! Usually, card logistics involves a whole series of different processes. First, the carrier document is pre-folded, then the card is attached, the document is, then vertically folded. Another deflection module follows and, only then, the document is inserted. We have now completely replaced this long process of many separate stations with a single folding unit. And the key feature is that the paper emerges correctly oriented, pre-folded but open so that the card can be attached and the paper can simply be closed again. This makes our new solution for the card segment particularly compact. Three of the biggest players in the security segment visited us at our Exclusive Days 2024. They unanimously agreed that they have never seen anything like it before. I am absolutely convinced that this new module will generate significant growth in the BOWE SYSTEC division. The technology is revolutionary and absolutely reliable.

Mr. Koschier, many thanks for the interesting interview!

Published with the kind permission of the trade magazine “World of Print”.