For two weeks, I had the pleasure of traveling to Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand with Eric Hoendervangers. Eric is the Sales & Marketing Director and one of the founders of MPS.
It was a fantastic learning experience being alongside Eric at meetings, as his knowledge of flexo, offset, and hybrid technologies – along with the history of MPS – is big.
I was in awe of all he knows, and I could tell printers were, too.
Meeting PT. Surya Baru
Indonesia was our first destination to meet up with MPS customer PT. Surya Baru, soon to receive their first MPS EF 430 multi-substrate press.
Eric Hoendervangers and Mr. Haryanto of Surya Baru
We also met with other interesting label printers there and exchanged good information about the Indonesian market. As mentioned in my blog about my Indonesia travels back in February, there is so much opportunity here for label and flexible packaging printing.
As it was Eric’s first visit to Indonesia, I made sure to show him key sights and shared a traditional Indonesian meal, along with Julius Urbano, the newly appointed Regional Service Engineer for MPS Asia. And yes, Sate Ayam (grilled chicken skewers with peanut sauce) was on the menu!
Julius Urbanos, Eric Hoendervangers and Tim Klappe at a restaurant in Jakarta
Next stop: Thailand
Eric and I joined Suwannee Tantisrisuk, the new Area Sales Manager at MPS Asia on visits to key label printers in Thailand.
There is definitely a growing interest, both here and in Indonesia, for the MPS EF SYMJET hybrid flexo inkjet solution, especially with the possibility to print in short runs different types of films in shrink sleeves and wrap-around labels.
One of largest label printers in the world invited us to their global meeting – a highly conducive event with interesting discussions and the opportunity to meet many of our colleagues in the industry.
Hospitality and breathtaking views in New Zealand
Awe-mazing views in the surrounding area of Auckland and warm hospitality from our local agent Nekkorb (in their home!) was in store for us in New Zealand. If you’ve never been, just watch The Lord of the Rings and you’ll see what I mean about the breathtaking landscape.
Our time there was busy, with non-stop work making presentations, preparing quotations, and visiting existing and potential new customers. Reception was overwhelming positive!
One of our customers just celebrated a 10th year of productivity with their MPS press. These are the milestones that makes what we do so fulfilling.
Market discussions with Nekkorb New Zealand
The land down under
Australia was our last stop, where we had good meetings with MPS agent Maxteq, one of our existing customers and another new MPS customer, who’s EXL flexo press will be installed later this year.
A great finish to a busy but rewarding two-week tour of Asia!
Up next
I’ll be presenting about industry 4.0 and connectivity at the Shift_018 Conference May 2-3 in Bangkok. After I’ll be attending a regional meeting with Domino, with a focus on the EF SYMJET.
You can also meet us at the debut of Labelexpo Southeast Asia May 10-12 in Bangkok.
And stay tuned to hear about our next exciting expansion news for MPS Asia…in the Philippines!