The Hauni Network

From green leaf threshing (GLT) to primary and secondary, the Hauni network offers the international tobacco industry a range of technologies, technical services and consulting products that is unrivaled in its scope.

With its lead brand Hauni, Garbuio Dickinson, Decouflé, Borgwaldt, Borgwaldt Flavor, Sodim, and ASL (Analytic Service Laboratory), the network combines the know-how and expertise of a large number of specialist companies. They provide almost the entire range of basic and premium services required by the industry with solutions for tobacco processing, filter and cigarette manufacturing, logistics, flavor, metrology, and analysis.

The Hauni network’s broad portfolio of products and services is an important advantage for customers. Life-cycle support is another valuable service, which solves customers’ technical challenges, however specialized, wherever they arise in the world.

“Our employees are well-trained in a vast number of disciplines and stationed at sites all over the world. We have decades of experience so our customers can be confident that we can truly be their solution partner and can support them in staying successful,” emphasizes Patrick Fricke, head of marketing at Hauni. “Our aim is to utilize our potential to generate the maximum effect. This is the basis for helping our customers to transform their production sites into integrated systems, in which the production phases are as seamlessly linked as the internal mechanisms of an individual machine.”

Hauni’s network of seven associated brands offers its customers access to a wealth of experts, potential, knowledge and technologies – and all this through a single contact. This is a major advantage. Even the sales structure reflects the principle of being part of a larger whole. Customers also continue to profit from the size of the Hauni network after purchasing their solution.

“From the development of customer-specific solutions to support and services covering the full life-cycle of a plant or even in areas such as relocation or rebuilding, we offer the capacity needs as well as the know-how, experience and expertise requirements of our customers in various phases along the value chain,” said Fricke. The global process optimization consultancy service (GPO) specializes in identifying hidden potential for savings and optimization. The Hauni network’s highly qualified service technicians are also part of the global expert organization, participate in regular training courses and have a profound understanding of all machines. Furthermore, remote service via a 24/7 spares hotline and telephone consulting gives customers an express route for contacting competent and experienced service staff with a consistently high level of training and regional knowledge.

As members of the Hauni network, all individual brands profit from being part of a larger whole. Innovations developed at great expense for flagship products and premium solutions eventually trickle down into the network’s standard offerings and entry-level ranges. The transfer of knowledge with this strong expert network results in fast and low-cost access to innovations for customers. Direct drives, which were initially introduced by Hauni to optimize the operation and maintenance of high-end machines, are one example of the speed with which specific innovations can be adopted throughout an entire product range. They are already a standard feature of other brands such as Decouflé as well.

During the development phase, synergies also arise within the Körber Group. These turn enhancements into genuine innovations and even extend beyond the Hauni network. For example, the new KT 3 tobacco cutter was developed by Hauni in cooperation with the Körber subsidiary Blohm, which specializes in grinding machines. The new cutting and grinding unit developed for the KT 3 significantly improves machine performance, flexibility, plant availability, effectiveness, and the quality of the cut tobacco.

The rapidly changing market also makes it advantageous for the tobacco industry to cooperate with a well-established and broadly-based solution partner.

“With ever more complex production processes, we focus on making advances on all levels to support the success of our customers,” explains Fricke. “For example, a new product may require new or modified production machines. But these in turn also require adapted logistics or quality assurance solutions. Thus we create new approaches and industrial solutions for mass production. Here, one key strength of the Hauni network comes into play: the joint process of innovation across our various subsidiaries.”

The principle of the network has superseded stand-alone solutions. This has been the key to designing highly flexible filter and cigarette makers and, as many of its machines share the same components, it has also created significant advantages in terms of operation, maintenance and spare parts for the various brands of the Hauni network. This saves customers time and money.

The development of the fluid flavor applicator (FFA) is one example of a successful collaboration of developers in the Hauni network. The FFA is available as an option for applying liquid flavors in filter rod and cigarette production. The process was a joint development by Hauni and Borgwaldt Flavor experts. It offers customers a perfectly balanced solution that includes the machine and the appropriate flavor recipe.

More information: www.hauni.com