Kansan has been selling fully automated, complete wet wipe production lines since 1998. Today, the company has lines in more than 40 countries on five continents and counts among its customers not just multinational companies but also a number of local producers in various parts of the world.

Long years of experience in this sector and being in many different markets has made Kansan flexible enough adapt new changes and create the innovations based on its clients’ demands and their market requirements. This paved a way to its current position as a global industry leader.

Nonwovens Industry sat down with Anil Kirhalli to discuss Kansan’s place in the wet wipes industry.

Nonwovens Industry (NWI): What unique benefits can Kansan offer to wipes manufacturers?

Anil Kirhalli (A.K.): Kansan Group has been a one stop shop for wet wipe manufacturing machinery needs for eight years. Originally a supplier of converting machines, Kansan did not stay only in the field of converting but went further downstream and was able to differentiate the research and development teams for different platforms for turnkey solutions. In 2008, Kansan set up a new company (www.dynamicpack.com ) to produce the flow wrappers for wet wipes production lines. Dynamic is also producing plastic lid applicator robots along with the flow wrappers.
Kansan is also probably the most flexible company in this field when it comes to offering solutions and manufacturing lines according to the client’s very specific needs. We listen to our clients and hear what they say. Each machine we manufacture is redesigned with every single detail engineered according to these needs and requirements. We are aware that our clients from all over the world are requesting machines to deliver premium quality products with mid or low quality raw materials. In Kansan it is our everyday challenge to make it happen.
We work with globally accepted leading suppliers to ensure the longevity and endurance of our lines, as well as to realize their high performance. Our machines can be operated at high speeds with ease. The reject values of Kansan lines are extremely low, the format change over times are short and the machines come with a lot of flexibility and adaptability features for all type of markets and products for various areas.
We do not think of our clients as clients. They are our partners and our aftersales support is the core of everything we aim for and the heart of our organization. Kansan can provide technical support in English, Spanish, French, Russian and Turkish.

NWI: How are the needs of your customers in the wipes market changing?

A.K.: In recent years, competition in the wet wipes market has become more difficult. Wet wipes manufacturers are not only competing with their local rivals but also with the competitors from other countries. In some markets, there is a high level of import and this situation compels the local producers to provide the finest quality with the best price.
Even the size of the market is growing year over year so wet wipe producers must be more flexible than ever. The flexibility means three or four times total format changeovers in every shift every day. A producer must be able to offer flushable, biodegradable products, performance such as floor cleaning or grease removing wipes, baby wipes and cosmetic wipes in their portfolio. The prices have to be low but the product quality must be high so they are forced to produce premium products at high speeds with mid-to-low range acceptable quality raw materials. From our machine maker point of view Kansan’s cutting edge machines with its latest technology can give wipe manufacturers the competitive strength they need for the current market conditions and expectations. They can also enjoy unconditional result oriented after sales support and consultancy services we offer them.

NWI: Are you seeing differences between demands in developed areas like North America or Western Europe?

A.K.: Based on our sales activities I can say that in the recent years, Far East, Latin America, Middle East and Northern Africa have had a higher pace of investment than North America and Europe.
In terms of product differentiation regionally,  the rising environmental awareness and public opinions among the end users, wet wipe manufacturers in NA and EU are facing challenges to offer environmentally friendly products more and more every day and it appears that the flushability and biodegradability in this order will keep occupying the agenda in the coming years for these regions whereas in the rest of the world there they have more practical differences such as folding type, package shape or scent of a baby wipe.
Being present in more than 40 countries around world we’ve worked with numerous manufacturers from many different cultures and countries and we saw that the expectations and sensitiveness of each market differs from another. In the Far East, for example, there are markets where the folding type and folding direction, folding in machine direction or cross direction of the product has a great deal of impact on the well reception of the product in the eye of end users. In Middle East, however, the scent of a baby wipe may have a significant effect on acceptance of the product in the certain areas.

NWI: More specifically, how are the needs of wipes makers in areas like Brazil, China and Southeast Asia changing?

A.K.: Alongside with the economic boom and increasing birth rate in these regions, there are more investors or producers seeking possibilities to enhance their production capabilities which is of course a good opportunity for us.
Recently, we have provided new production lines to prominent manufacturers in China, Vietnam and Indonesia. All these clients’ common aim is to be unique in their markets. They want to have a flexible, custom made but European machines to provide them the ability to produce innovative goods with high performance at much higher speeds than their current technologies. So Kansan is always a good solution for them.
The story for Brazil is a bit different. There’s for sure an increasing demand for wipes in Brazil but the high cost of import expenses makes the importation procedures highly laborious and difficult, and the selling prices of wipes are very high compared to other countries. Therefore the penetration of wipes in the Brazilian market is still not at desired levels. In addition to all these the current economic indicators are suggesting that maybe after a few years the Brazilian market will be more tempting.

NWI: What are some of the needs in wipes that are not being met?

A.K.: The current converting machines may offer additional applications onto nonwovens such as embossing and even maybe coloring. With these types of options, wet wipe producers are able to differentiate their products on their converting lines rather than at the ordering stage from nonwovens suppliers. But more importantly, almost all the wet wipe producers around world handle case packing operations at the end of their production lines manually. Based on the size of the production line, the labor necessity for such packing may go up to even six to eight people per line. A flexible carton case packing machine, if not today, will soon become a dispensable equipment of a wet wipe line.