Hüllhorst, Germany

Wick-Machinery has been working with Dr. Lüschow GmbH & Co. KG, a company that produces high-quality nutritional supplements and medical products in liquid form, since 2008. Dr. Bernd Lüschow, who has successfully managed the company for more than 17 years, talks about his long-standing collaboration with Wick-Machinery.

Dr. Lüschow: When and how did you come across Wick-Machinery?

That was in 2008, when I found their trade fair appearance at interpack very appealing and Andreas Wick and his team. At the time, I was just starting to fill larger bottles and was therefore looking for a flexible machine. When I spoke to Wick-Machinery, I immediately realized that they were responding to my requirements and wishes instead of trying to convince me with a ready-made machine. Today, after several years of working together, we now have five Wick machines in our house. Our meeting at the trade fair was absolutely worthwhile.

What was particularly special about working with Wick-Machinery for you?

The team listens to the wishes and ideas of its customers and looks for a solution. There are of course larger and better-known machine manufacturers who build really great machines, but they build these machines the way they think is right and not the way I want them. It's the other way around at Wick Machinery. They ask you what you need and implement it excellently. The Wick machines that I have in my company are certainly not available off the shelf. That is the qualitative difference.

When you have such an intense exchange with each other, does that also mean that you grow together? 
Learn from each other?

Yes, I would confirm that. As an application specialist, I know what the machine ultimately needs to be able to do, or what needs to be changed on the next machine. That is the knowledge and input that I can provide from the user side. And Andreas Wick and his team use this feedback to further develop the machines. And because I have been absolutely satisfied with all the machines so far, you could say that both sides benefit from each other.

What else has emerged from this long-term collaboration?

It is a pleasing fact that every factory acceptance test was also used as an opportunity to combine business with pleasure: the teams go out to eat together and enjoy Austrian cuisine and Austrian wine.
Interestingly, to return to the business side, every machine has so far turned out to need a little bit of adjustment afterwards. This is because aspects that can be optimized usually become apparent during actual operation. Although we work together and design things, we have never had the situation where we planned everything 100 percent correctly. These are usually not big things and of course that is part of every operational reality, but these things are always adjusted until they work perfectly. Wick-Machinery is a great partner for this too, because they remain absolutely reliable and solution-oriented in every step of the collaboration.

Pratteln near Basel, Switzerland

Konapharma is a renowned Swiss private company in the field of contract manufacturing and contract packaging. The company's strengths include the development and manufacture of solid dosage forms through to primary and secondary packaging. Mr. Alessandro
Larecchiuta, who works as Head of Technical Support for the company, talks about his experience with Wick.

Can you briefly describe the collaboration with Wick-Machinery?

Konapharma is a full-service provider. This means that in addition to traditional contract manufacturing and packaging, the company also offers service activities in quality control, development and logistics services. For contract manufacturing inquiries in the primary packaging sector, Wick is an important contact for us - especially when primary packaging deviates from the product range. In this case, things always have to be done quickly: Wick Machinery receives the product requirements from us and, based on this information, has to carry out services such as consultations, quote preparation and also fast format deliveries.

If you produce based on customer requests, do the machines need to be easily adaptable? 

Can you give an example of an adaptation?

We had a customer request for this tablet counting machine that required larger and higher doses. We asked Wick Machinery for the necessary formats and found a solution very quickly. In general, I can confirm that Wick's systems are very easy to handle and operate.

 
In your opinion, is Wick-Machinery a reliable partner in customized machine construction?

I can definitely confirm that Andreas Wick and his employees have always taken our wishes and requirements into account. They always strive to find a quick and pragmatic solution.

What was special about the collaboration with Wick-Machinery for you?

You always know very quickly whether something can be done straight away, whether it would need to be modified first, or whether the existing Wick system might not be suitable for something. If the latter was the case, Wick always provided understandable reasons and made a counter-proposal. Working with Wick is therefore very direct, very open and very honest. I personally value that very much.

What other positive experiences can you highlight?

What I would like to highlight is that Wick always responds to our requirements, quality standards and suggestions. With regard to immediate quotations or short delivery times in contract manufacturing, Wick makes a valuable and important contribution with its advice, services and delivery times. In summary, we can say that with Wick-Machinery we have a very reliable partner at our side. We would like to continue to strengthen this collaboration.

Styria, Austria

The Fandler oil mill is an Austrian family business that has been producing the highest quality, cold-pressed, single-variety vegetable oils from first pressing since 1926. With its impressive range of varieties - from organic safflower oil to organic plum kernel oil - the traditional company has long since developed into one of the culinary highlights of the Austrian business landscape. Peter Schloffer, part of the Fandler management, talks about his experience with Wick.

Mr. Schloffer, how did the collaboration with Wick-Machinery come about?

We met at the FACHPACK in Nuremberg a few years ago. I was looking for a 20 ml filling machine, which is a very small amount. After several days at the trade fair, where my colleagues and I thought we would have to go home without a partner, we came across the Wick-Machinery stand. In conversation with Andreas Wick our special 20ml request was suddenly no longer a problem, but a requirement that could be implemented. We were enthusiastic from the start.

And what happened next?

After the fair Andreas Wick and I first had more detailed discussions. We then drove to Himberg for a meeting. The team from Wick-Machinery was excellently prepared and so friendly that we felt at ease right from the start. We designed and discussed the requirements for the machine in detail. And today we have a perfect, tailor-made machine that we are absolutely satisfied with.

What were the special requirements for this 20ml filling line?

It is very important to us to ensure absolute purity of the oils. We have a very large variety of oils, so the machine must guarantee that there is no mixing of the oils. The technology that Wick Machinery has developed for this meets this requirement with absolute reliability and is also very easy to use. If there is ever a problem, we have a contact person at Wick, Markus Schwarz, who I can call at any time. He always tries to deal with our concerns immediately. So far, we have been able to clarify all questions directly over the phone.

What else do you think makes the collaboration with Wick-Machinery special?

Because we are two Austrian family businesses, we simply fit together well. We have a similar operational structure and share high standards for our customers, our products and of course our team. And this similarity generates a deep mutual understanding and honest appreciation when we work together. And because it is very important to us to buy as many raw materials as possible in Austria and to source as many of our trades as possible from Austria, the collaboration with Wick is a complete success in this respect too.