Folker Stachetzki
Marketing Manager Brother Internationale Industriemaschinen GmbH
We always use FESPA to showcase our latest developments
Brother Internationale Industriemaschinen GmbH, the European subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Brother, provides high quality sewing machines and textile printers. Marketing Manager Folker Stachetzki speaks to Fibre2Fashion about the company’s products, its participation in FESPA Global Print Expo, and sustainability.
Will it be true if I say that Brother sewing machines can be found in all countries? How do you manage logistics of shipping your machines to various countries?
Yes, our machines can be ordered in almost every country in the world. We have hundreds of certified dealers worldwide and they are supplied and supported by our logistics bases, which we have on every continent. There we always have sufficient machines and all consumables and spare parts in stock.
Tell us about after-sales service and availability of spare parts for Brother products.
The after-sales service is usually done by the technicians of our certified dealers. All spare parts can also be ordered through these dealers. This helps to ensure fast, professional service in all parts of the world.
In addition, we have highly skilled engineers at our company sites who regularly train our dealers’ engineers, monitor the quality of service and assist with major projects.
What made Brother to enter into garment printers’ business? What is the growth story?
The very first direct to garment printer was introduced in 1998. A few years later Brother launched their first direct to garment printer, the GT-541. As Brother has been in the inkjet business for a long time and has its own development department, this was a logical step.
In the meantime, Brother has further expanded this development department and, due to the fact that all components are produced by Brother itself, can constantly develop and perfect this technology. The latest are the three printers in the GTX series, with which Brother covers all areas of textile printing. From personalisation to long runs to high-volume production, Brother became a market leader in all of these areas.
You have recently come out with an app for direct to garment printers. How does this benefit your customers?
This software solution will be officially presented this summer. It includes a whole series of apps that can be purchased individually or combined according to individual needs.
This app, developed in house, not only incorporates our expertise in the field of textile production, but we also worked closely with major producers during its development.
We are proud to say that this software solution covers all aspects of production and has solutions for every business model, from retail to mass production.
Your organisation is going to participate at the FESPA Global Print Expo 2022 to be held from May 31 in Germany. Which products are you going to showcase?
We will be exhibiting all our GTX series printers, including of course the GTX600 – our new mass production printer launched late last year. In addition, we will for the first time present our new software solution which we described above. Interested parties will have the opportunity to experience and try out all the features live at our stand.
Our printers are extremely versatile, and this will be another focus, such as DTF printing and much more.
What kind of response did you receive during your earlier participation at FESPA Global Print Expos? What is your expectation this time?
We always show the complete process and respond to the individual questions or problems of our visitors. As we have experts from all different sectors on our booth, this exchange is always very well accepted.
We also always use FESPA to showcase our latest developments – from new hardware and digital solutions to new or improved operations.
As there have unfortunately been very few opportunities to meet live with interested parties in recent years, we assume that many people will use FESPA to explore and be inspired by the latest releases.
What is your organisation’s Environment Policy, particularly in Europe?
For Brother it is essential to help society achieve sustainable development, by positively and continuously considering the environmental impact in all aspects of our business operations. This is the basic philosophy of the Brother Group Environmental Policy, which applies worldwide.
Brother has several environmental programmes, not only to reduce environmental damage, but also to help repair any damage or problems that have occurred.
Please enlist the sustainability goals that your company plans to achieve.
We adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030 by the United Nations several years ago.
In addition, Brother has launched the Brother Group Environmental Vision 2050, which sets out the company’s own goals, such as to achieve carbon neutrality in our business operations and minimise CO2 emissions across our entire value chain.
The three main goals of this Vision are the Reduction of CO2 emissions, Resource Circulation to minimise the environmental impact due to wastes and Biodiversity conservation to restore and conserve the ecosystem beyond the impact.
Published on: 02/05/2022
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
