PLASTICS TECHNOLOGY
“Passion for innovation” / Plasteurope.com talks to start-up entrepreneurs Daniel Stricker, former editor-in-chief of Kunststoff Information, and his brother, Urban Stricker
 Brothers and young entrepreneurs: Daniel (left) and Urban Stricker (Photo: B.IRD Machinery) |
When it comes to analysing and explaining global polymer markets, there is one person who has been regarded for years as an absolute expert in the plastics industry – Daniel Stricker , the former editor-in-chief of Plasteurope.com’s sister publication, Kunststoff Information (KI). At the beginning of 2020, this philosophy graduate took the risk of starting a new career and, together with his elder brother Urban Stricker, founded the start-up B.IRD Machinery (Aachen, Germany; www.birdmachinery.de).
The purpose of the business was to develop, build and market machines for drying granules for injection moulding machines using infrared technology. Plasteurope.com talked to the Stricker brothers about their late calling and the attraction of entrepreneurship.
PIE: Founding a new company at the age of 60 is not exactly commonplace. How did it come about?
Daniel Stricker: For my brother and I this step was somehow logical. We have both been professionally involved with the plastics industry all our lives: Urban is a graduate engineer in the field of material sciences with a focus on polymers, and holds numerous relevant patents. Among other things, I have been involved with the subject for more than 20 years as a journalist. It, therefore, seemed like a logical step to also try things out as an entrepreneur in this field.
Urban Stricker: We share – perhaps it lies in the family – a passion for innovation. Apart from that, our education, training, and inclinations complement each other. Under these circumstances, it is easy to justify a start-up. Daniel is responsible at B.IRD for the general management and marketing. I look after the technology side and its development.
Plasteurope.com: What is the business idea?
Urban: We have developed a rotating tube device making use of lightweight construction technology. The machine dries injection moulding granules with short-wave infrared light. Up until now, the market was dominated by air-drying, a technology that is, however, not particularly efficient and is expensive to operate. Our machine, on the other hand, can be installed inline and dries only the quantity that is actually needed – between 20 kg/h and 150 kg/h. As a result, we save up to 60% energy.
Plasteurope.com: In the field of extrusion, the IR technology had been established a good 20 years ago. How has nobody else come up with the idea for injection moulding yet?
Daniel: Well, that’s what inventions are all about. In the mid-1990s, Urban hit upon the idea when he carried out research on the heating of regrind material. In 1998, he registered the original IRD patent. In our view, the technology is innovative and is also suitable for all possible markets, for example pharmaceuticals or foodstuffs.
Plasteurope.com: Who will buy the machine?
Daniel: We consider the market potential to be enormous. In the injection moulding sector alone, the number of machines could run into the thousands every year. But we want to plan realistically and grow organically. That means that in the next few years, we want to sell around 20 machines, above all to technical injection moulders who need to dry, for example, PA, PC, ABS or PET.
Plasteurope.com: How much will a machine cost?
Daniel:The price will be about the same as for a conventional air-drier with similar throughputs.
Plasteurope.com: Last question: Why is the headquarters of B.IRD Machinery in Aachen?
Urban: On the one hand, we come from the Rhineland and Aachen is home for us. On the other, the Institute for Plastics Processing at RWTH Aachen University (IKV) offers a highly innovation-friendly atmosphere – we wanted to take advantage of this.
Plastics Information Europe (www.pieweb.com) will also be attending K 2022. You will find us from 19-26 October in Hall 6, C 28. On Thursday, 20 October, our famous KI Group Summit with interesting papers from industry will take place from 10:30 am to 3 pm in the Congress Centre CCD Süd, Hall 1, Room 15 (see Plasteurope.com of 04.10.2022). In addition, there will be brief polymer price presentations almost every day on our stand together with KI (www.kiweb.de).
The purpose of the business was to develop, build and market machines for drying granules for injection moulding machines using infrared technology. Plasteurope.com talked to the Stricker brothers about their late calling and the attraction of entrepreneurship.
PIE: Founding a new company at the age of 60 is not exactly commonplace. How did it come about?
Daniel Stricker: For my brother and I this step was somehow logical. We have both been professionally involved with the plastics industry all our lives: Urban is a graduate engineer in the field of material sciences with a focus on polymers, and holds numerous relevant patents. Among other things, I have been involved with the subject for more than 20 years as a journalist. It, therefore, seemed like a logical step to also try things out as an entrepreneur in this field.
Urban Stricker: We share – perhaps it lies in the family – a passion for innovation. Apart from that, our education, training, and inclinations complement each other. Under these circumstances, it is easy to justify a start-up. Daniel is responsible at B.IRD for the general management and marketing. I look after the technology side and its development.
Plasteurope.com: What is the business idea?
Urban: We have developed a rotating tube device making use of lightweight construction technology. The machine dries injection moulding granules with short-wave infrared light. Up until now, the market was dominated by air-drying, a technology that is, however, not particularly efficient and is expensive to operate. Our machine, on the other hand, can be installed inline and dries only the quantity that is actually needed – between 20 kg/h and 150 kg/h. As a result, we save up to 60% energy.
Plasteurope.com: In the field of extrusion, the IR technology had been established a good 20 years ago. How has nobody else come up with the idea for injection moulding yet?
Daniel: Well, that’s what inventions are all about. In the mid-1990s, Urban hit upon the idea when he carried out research on the heating of regrind material. In 1998, he registered the original IRD patent. In our view, the technology is innovative and is also suitable for all possible markets, for example pharmaceuticals or foodstuffs.
Plasteurope.com: Who will buy the machine?
Daniel: We consider the market potential to be enormous. In the injection moulding sector alone, the number of machines could run into the thousands every year. But we want to plan realistically and grow organically. That means that in the next few years, we want to sell around 20 machines, above all to technical injection moulders who need to dry, for example, PA, PC, ABS or PET.
Plasteurope.com: How much will a machine cost?
Daniel:The price will be about the same as for a conventional air-drier with similar throughputs.
Plasteurope.com: Last question: Why is the headquarters of B.IRD Machinery in Aachen?
Urban: On the one hand, we come from the Rhineland and Aachen is home for us. On the other, the Institute for Plastics Processing at RWTH Aachen University (IKV) offers a highly innovation-friendly atmosphere – we wanted to take advantage of this.
| Daniel and Urban Stricker will also showcase their B.IRD machine at K 2022 in Düsseldorf on the NRW joint stand in Hall 6, D 76. |
Plastics Information Europe (www.pieweb.com) will also be attending K 2022. You will find us from 19-26 October in Hall 6, C 28. On Thursday, 20 October, our famous KI Group Summit with interesting papers from industry will take place from 10:30 am to 3 pm in the Congress Centre CCD Süd, Hall 1, Room 15 (see Plasteurope.com of 04.10.2022). In addition, there will be brief polymer price presentations almost every day on our stand together with KI (www.kiweb.de).
12.10.2022 Plasteurope.com [251262-0]
Published on 12.10.2022