Nothing frustrates a chocolate coated marshmallow manufacturer more than installing a piece of machinery, creating a degree of expectation, and then finding out that it just doesn't do what it was supposed to do! For Managing Director of Dibs Confectionery, Auckland, Mr Brian Bensley, it was a tale of utter frustration.
Dibs Confectionery makes a range of chocolate-coated marshmallow confectionery for the Easter and Christmas periods.
It manufactures under its own name as well as house brands, and exports about 17% of production mostly to Australia - a figure that is growing. Brian purchased the company after a lifetime in senior management with food companies in the UK and New Zealand.
"We bought a PFM Swift flow wrapper from a small local agent prior to Emrich taking over the sole agency for New Zealand. There's nothing wrong with these machines. PFM are one of the biggest flow wrapper machinery makers in Europe. However, problems started when we had it commissioned," explained Brian. "In four weeks we knew more about the machine than the local agent from whom we bought it!"
“In New Zealand, it's very hard for an agent to make a living without carrying a lot of principals. When you buy from a local agent they just don't have the same depth of knowledge as a major principal would."
Brian said that things changed dramatically - and all for the best – when Emrich opened their New Zealand office. "Emrich came on the scene and we're now really flying, and the machine is performing as it should have done from the start."
He said that with a brand new machine like the Swift, it has to be tailored for a particular use. "The clever part is tweaking the machine to get the ultimate out of it - it's a flow wrapper and there is a certain art with flow wrappers."
Brian said that with Dean Goldsworthy now in New Zealand for Emrich, they had been able to give Dibs the depth of service they couldn't get before.
"We've got Dean now and he's our major link to Emrich, and there's been a couple of other Emrich people who've visited us from Australia. It really makes you feel that you're back in Europe, with a level of service that we can obtain as if we were located say, in the UK."
"You're confident that the Emrich guys know what they're talking about. That they can fix things darn quickly, and we're not experiencing the down-time and wastage we were before."
Brian said that it cost the company 'a fortune' prior to Emrich arriving. "If we need a part and phone Australia before 4pm. local Auckland time, there's a pretty good chance we'll have that part by 9am the next day," said Brian. "From that standpoint we're very happy."
"Our plan is for growth predominantly through export, under controlled conditions, and obviously we’ll have to purchase more Swifts!”