Maes talks Summa with Aarque clients

Recently, Aarque Group hosted Wim Maes, executive director and chief commercial officer at Belgium based finishing equipment manufacturer Summa.
 
Maes spent two weeks journeying through the Asia Pacific region, meeting the company’s partners. Summa appointed Aarque as its New Zealand agent last year. New Zealand Printer spoke to Maes who also visited last year around the same time
 
He says, “We are very happy having Aarque as our partner here. We have a lot of projects we are working on. Visiting existing customers and learn about specifics of the local marker is proving a valuable learning experience; you always learn from customers.
 
“Globally, Summa grew 30 per cent last year. We offer range of cutting tables from 1.6m right up to 3.2m and we see a need for Summa in this market. I know that sounds obvious. But if you look at the first customer we saw this morning, he bought an F1612 Summa cutter, not a huge investment a good one to begin with. It is a highly functional machine.
 
“There is big market for these medium sized machines of European quality. The size of the NZ markets means versatility is very important. In other markets, we see clients more focused on, say, board or self-adhesive. It is different here.”
 
He believes New Zealand will prove fertile ground for soft signage. He says. “We can also see soft signage coming here. Summa has bought a company that makes products for laser cutting textiles. Soft signage will grow and become more important.
 
“Overall, the value of finishing is becoming more important, though it is still underestimated. The products I have seen here are amazing. You can really see the value of finishing with these products. The companies are creative and the products are distinctive and help the customers promote their brands. Finishing matters and adds so much value to print.”
 
Steve Wilton-Jones, national equipment sales consultant at Aarque Group, says, “Keeping finishing in house takes complexity out of the workflow. You don’t have to lose control of your process by having that functional piece of equipment in your print shop.
 
“Having Wim here has absolutely reinforced the fact that Summa is such a strong brand and it is great to have Summa’s support for Aarque and our customers as well.”