The packaging industry is growing and is in full swing. Empack exhibitor Viking Masek has been active in complete turnkey lines as well as stand-alone machines in the packaging industry since 1964. The Czech American packaging machine manufacturer has offices and agencies and service worldwide, with factories in the Czech Republic and USA. This for a range of market segments, including both food and non-food products and pharma.

We spoke with Marc van Gerven, since Dec 2019 y.l. appointed director of Western Europe at Viking Masek. “We are the market leader in innovative, easy to operate and reliable packaging lines. We develop and manufacture pouch packing machines, vertical packers (VFFS), high speed continuous motion and intermittent packers, multilane stick pack and sachet packaging machines and cartoners and case packers. All this as a turnkey project or separately per machine type. Our machines integrate seamlessly with various types and brands of dosers, weighers and fillers, input and output equipment, metal detectors and X-ray systems. Everything carried out with the well-known A brands ”.

From cheese to coffee – a solution for every product

Viking Masek’s slogan is “Pack your emotions”. Van Gerven explains “This is because we believe that packaging is an emotion. We as a company also feel that emotion across all ranks ”. Viking Masek takes care of the entire package: from raw product to pallet, from cheese to coffee, to meat products, fresh vegetables, from pharmacy to various powder supplements. In other words: Viking Masek has the solution for every product. Van Gerven continues: “We see this as a trend that customers increasingly want a one-stop shop and a clear division of responsibilities between the various machines and equipment. Not a separate supplier for every type of equipment, but all in one and yet with all the expertise per field ”.

Full responsibility for all equipment

In the conversation we also asked him what makes the company so unique. “That is our 24/7 service. It goes without saying that we do the entire line engineering and take full responsibility for all equipment, even if it is not a Viking Masek make. We act as a sparring partner and support our customers in the custom composition and maintenance of their packaging lines. Even after delivery, we are the first point of contact at all times and we completely relieve our customers ”.

Despite the turbulent COVID-19 period, Viking Masek is doing well. Van Gerven “Everything is running smoothly. Normally, our conversations take place personally at the table, because packaging lines are major investments for companies. Due to the imposed (international) measures, these conversations are more often conducted digitally via Teams, Skype or Zoom. We also notice that a number of companies have become more cautious with regard to large investments due to the Corona crisis. Among other things, this results in increased sales of stand-alone machines. Finally, we have also noticed that companies based in America and Asia are less careful about making large investments compared to those in Western Europe ”.

Empack

When asked why Empack as a trade fair is of added value for Viking Masek, van Gerven replied: “Empack is very valuable to us, because the Benelux is an important and growth market for us. The focus of Viking Masek will be even more than before on Western Europe and the Benelux is an important area in this. To emphasize this, a new location, including a test and demo center and service, will be opened in the Netherlands in 2021/22. The location is currently unknown. In this test and demo center we store the most extensive packaging lines with which our customers can, among other things, test their products, independently or with the support of our specialized staff ”.

Interested? Have a look at the website www.vikingmasek.cz or www.vikingmasek.com.