|
NEW PRODUCTS FROM DUTCH VETERAN GMF-GOUDA FOR JAPANESE MARKET GMF-Gouda has been supplying equipment to Japan's chemical and food industries for four decades. It is an established brand in a country that foreign companies sometimes find hard to penetrate. This year it is hoping to reinvigorate the market with two new products for the Japanese chemical industry. The first, a disc pastillator machine, is uniquely GMF-Gouda's. It is used to solidify and pastillate materials that are very sensitive to oxygen or humidity, or materials that are dangerous for machine operators. Applications include soap softeners and products that make plastic pliable. Machines currently used for these purposes are open rather than closed, creating environmental hazards. "You can imagine that it can be very smelly and dangerous process", said A.S. Wirodihardjo, commercial director for GMF-Gouda. "Our machine is safer to operate".  GMF-Gouda's Disc Pastillator has many advantages. GMF-Gouda's second product introduction for Japan is a paddle dryer, often used to dry waste water sludge. Among many other applications, it can be used to dry super-absorbent materials used in products like diapers. The GMF-Gouda paddle dryer builds on the company's expertise in the food and chemical industries. Ever since the family-owned company was founded nearly a century ago, it has been manufacturing drum dryers used for making products like instant baby food, modified and pre-gelled starches, milk powder and potato flakes. GMF-Gouda succeeds because it has built a strong reputation in an industry where consumer safety is everything. Clients include Nestlé, Unilever, Numico and Heinz. "Once you have a position in the food industry, the price/quality is right and you're reliable with good service, customers must have a good reason to switch suppliers", said GMF-Gouda managing director H. Frankena. The company is committed to Japan, where the kind of quality that GMF-Gouda delivers is top priority. "Japanese companies are very strict and know exactly what they want", said Mr. Wirodihardjo. "That's why Japan is and always will be an interesting market for us. |