Four decades of special machine construction: Interview with Thomas Braun

A conversation about milestones, innovations and the future of packaging machines for the hygiene industry

Thomas Braun worked for Optima for over 40 years, most recently as Group Leader Engineering at Optima Nonwovens. In this interview, he talks about his experiences.

You have been working in special machine construction for almost forty years. What major technical developments or milestones have you experienced during this time? 

Thomas Braun: There were many. In the beginning, I was responsible for filling scales, but later I added projects with packaging machines. The biggest milestone was probably a major project in the 1990s: We delivered a new generation of diaper packaging machines worldwide – 160 systems were planned, but in the end there were over 200. A mammoth project that has shaped Optima Nonwovens.

The technical changes in the four decades have also been enormous. The development went from purely mechanical machines with cam discs to systems with electronic controls and servo drives. Today, software plays a central role, and robot technology has become indispensable. Intelligent monitoring systems, such as thermal imaging cameras with infrared technology for weld seam inspection, have revolutionized quality assurance.

Were there moments when you were worried that new technologies might replace your experience?

Thomas Braun: No, rather the opposite. The new technologies have changed a lot, but they still need people, especially in the development and operation of machines. For example, camera systems with artificial intelligence for quality assurance have shown weaknesses because the operator of the production lines did not carry out the learning phase of the AI with highly qualified operating personnel. Human intervention and empirical knowledge were unavoidable. So it always takes a mixture of human intelligence, supported by machine precision and artificial intelligence.
 
Automation on the production lines must pursue the goal of relieving the operating personnel of routine activities so that the work remains varied. We are therefore continuing to work on replacing repetitive activities with machine solutions, such as cobots (collaborative robots).

What topics do you see becoming more important in special machine construction?

Thomas Braun: Sustainability is becoming increasingly important, but there are still many hurdles. For example, fresh, long-fibre pulp is required for paper packaging. Recycled paper does not have the required strength. Therefore, there is not enough raw material (wood) available for an immediate switch to paper packaging, which also has an impact on costs. Moisture resistance is also a challenge that is still being worked on. Today, paper packaging is a niche solution in the hygiene industry. However, the market share will certainly grow in the future.

We also work with recycled material, such as post-consumer PE, which is obtained from PE packaging from the "yellow bag", for example. The quality of this material is not always consistent. We are therefore researching solutions to ensure a stable packaging process despite fluctuating material quality.

Do you have an experience from your long career that you found particularly formative?

Thomas Braun: There are two types of customers: Some buy standard machines that are supposed to run simply.

Others prefer machines with tailor-made process flows. These demanding customers work closely with us to develop new solutions together. These innovation projects are challenging, but they bring us enormous technical progress. We work with these customers on an equal footing – that's exciting and a lot of fun.