Within the framework of the Industrial Ramstein initiative, the Federation of Employers of Ukraine (FRU) held a meeting with the top management of ANDRITZ SCHULER – CEO Martin Drasch and Vice-Presidents Torsten Petrick and Benjamin Furst.
With a 180-year history and annual revenue exceeding €8 billion, the company is a globally recognized manufacturer of presses, automation and software solutions, dies, process know-how, and provides service support for the entire metalworking industry in more than 80 countries worldwide.
The main consumers of the equipment are the automotive industry (we saw gigantic Schuler presses at Mercedes-Benz during a factory visit), pulp and paper, metalworking, and energy sectors. Schuler is the world leader in press manufacturing for these industries. All these sectors are represented in the FRU, so it was particularly interesting to discuss in detail the opportunities for acquiring equipment both for defense and mechanical engineering enterprises and for paper product manufacturing.
The company’s vast experience and long-term strategy have enabled it to develop and implement a comprehensive philosophy in which a clearly structured production and service system minimizes equipment downtime and guarantees long-term benefits from its use. The presentation of this system by its founders and top decision-makers was extremely valuable.
ANDRITZ SCHULER’s executives fully supported the importance of technological modernization of Ukrainian industry using German machine tools — our Industrial Ramstein initiative, which is being implemented with comprehensive support from the International Labour Organization (ILO) within the joint FRU–ILO project. They rightly noted that Ukraine currently needs fast and effective solutions that will enable rapid modernization of key production sectors. In this context, we discussed the most attractive options for cost-effective procurement of Schuler equipment for Ukrainian enterprises, including the purchase of refurbished and upgraded machines from stock with a full manufacturer’s warranty.
We have already received specific equipment proposals from Schuler and plan to discuss them with FRU member companies.
