POLAND – Japanese manufacturer of packaging equipment Ishida has strengthened its European operations with the opening of a new office in Katowice, Poland.
In a statement, Ishida Europe noted that the region has proved a key growth zone for the business, and its expansion forms part of wider element of its developments within the region.
The firm has a broad application for the food sector and is a trusted provider of industry-leading multihead weighers, quality control and packaging equipment.
It also has top of the range inspection and x-ray systems, which it said will have a notable initial focus on the wider food sector, including meat and poultry processing within the region.
“Our goal is to ensure Ishida invests alongside our key global customers as they build and expand their operations, the target markets notably being the poultry and meat sector, as well as ensuring local support for all customers,” explained Mike Cairns, Ishida Europe Sales Director.
Expanding into Poland makes strategic sense for Ishida as the country has the largest food processing sector in Central and Eastern Europe and the sixth largest in the European Union (EU).
In 2019, the food processing industry accounted for six percent of Poland’s total US$592 billion gross domestic product (GDP), according to data from the US Department of Agriculture.
“Establishing our presence in Poland will see Ishida positioned to bring our ‘best-in-class’ capabilities closer to our customers and deliver unrivalled support,” Cairns noted.
Mr Cairns said that with automation now an increasing market driver, Ishida’s innovative approach towards customer centric solutions, coupled with the strength of its in-depth engineering and project execution capabilities would prove decisive for the region in its core competency areas.
“Our business has evolved quickly and effectively over the last two years to address the many challenges now faced within our core market sectors,” he commented.
“Having an extensive channel partner network that is able to meet the needs of our customers is imperative for Ishida. Our activities will complement those of our existing distributors who will continue to serve and support Ishida’s core products.”
Earlier, opened a new center of excellence in Prague, Czech Republic to provide a variety of training programs – both practical and classroom-based – across Ishida’s extensive range of packing line equipment.
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