Appkuns has been around for exactly forty years. In 1979, the father of current director Van Baal was working as a maintenance engineer within the industry. During his visits to customers, 'senior' noticed that he solved all kinds of customers' problems, basically doing the whole process of small products and packaging himself.
"Plastics are always on the move," says Giancarlo Cascu, sales manager at Appkuns. "We are a high-tech industry, constantly dealing with new materials, new processes and new requirements. Our knowledge and experience enable us to excel in the plastics market. "A good example is the 'smart' rollator, on which they collaborated. Commissioned by Robot Care Systems, Appkuns was allowed to make the plastic parts for the world's first smart rollator. "We found solutions in a short time for parts that were otherwise not manufacturable. It is a unique project. We had to make forty moulds, which required quite an investment. What was best is that you work together with many parties and solve things in a short time as a team that would otherwise not be manufacturable. "Corné van Baal, director of Appkuns has seen the plastics market change. The requirements are higher, the processes more difficult and the numbers vary between very small and very large. It is a situation where the 40-year-old company is actually paying off. "Our processes are perfectly aligned. The plastics specialist for a wide variety of issues with plastics, even for the seemingly challenging products!
Appkuns has been around for exactly forty years. In 1979, the father of current director Van Baal was working as a maintenance engineer within the industry. During his visits to customers, 'senior' noticed that he solved all kinds of customer problems and thus actually did the whole process of small products and packaging himself. His thought: if I am already doing this, I might as well start my own business. Today, Appkuns is a developer and manufacturer of plastic products for medical, packaging and industrial applications. The difference from before? Van Baal: "The customer but also legislation demands more, the processes are more difficult and, strangely enough, the quantities are becoming both smaller and larger. To clarify the latter: either people want to move towards very specific products in low numbers or they want to move in high volumes. There seems to be less in between.
Requirements
"Plastics are always on the move," says Giancarlo Cascu, sales manager at Appkuns. "We are a high-tech industry, constantly dealing with new materials, new processes and new requirements. Our knowledge and experience enable us to excel in the plastics market. "A good example is the 'smart' rollator, on which they collaborated. Commissioned by Robot Care Systems, Appkuns was allowed to make the plastic parts for the world's first smart rollator. "We found solutions in a short time for parts that were otherwise not manufacturable. It is a unique project. We had to make forty moulds, which required quite an investment. What was best is that you work together with many parties and solve things in a short time as a team, which otherwise would not be manufacturable."
Bio-materials and CSR
Important to Van Baal is corporate social responsibility (CSR). "Why CSR? It's just within our company. This is partly due to the product we use, which is plastic. One of the great properties of plastic is its recyclability. We reuse residual material again in the process. We are constantly looking at new developments within the various materials. Look at bio-materials or other environmentally friendly solutions. For more than 12.5 years, Appkuns has also worked together with a sheltered workshop from 'Sovak', giving people who are normally distant from the labour market a place in the production team. Between 10 and 15 people work there every day. "We are extremely proud of them. They do useful and relevant work for us in the assembly department. We provide guidance and we support the people in their participation in the labour process. "Appkuns' ambitions? Van Baal is modest. "At first, just keep going. As far as I am concerned, that means increasing, but not doubling. I don't need to have a hundred machines running at all. Maybe grow to about thirty or thirty-five, so that the company has a bit more body. Furthermore, I just want to make beautiful products with a good team, so that we can continue to serve current and new customers well. "He is also looking at developments such as 3D printing, but for the time being this technology is not suitable for high volumes. According to Van Baal, there are really interesting developments. "For us, 3D printing complements our current offering. And we use it for prototyping. But above all, we continue to do what we do best and that is make products that others cannot. That's our passion and that's our strength."
You will find Appkuns B.V. at stand 4.A018 during ESEF Maakindustrie
