Trade Talk Today K - Day 2

00:00:03:

00:00:21: It is day number two at K the world's number one in trade fair for plastics and rubber and The halls are buzzing.

00:00:31: There is so much going on and it is great to have everyone from all around the world visiting this most amazing trade fair.

00:00:38: And I can say here at Trade Talk today, our studio is also buzzing because we have wonderful guests on the show today.

00:00:45: We are going to be speaking to, or I'm going to be speaking to, Kastanahams, who is CEO of Omnia Performance Polymer Distribution.

00:00:52: And now... I have the chance to talk to Marius Berleman.

00:00:56: How are you today?

00:00:57: You're a COO of Message Is It Off?

00:00:58: and I know you're so busy, so we're very honored to have you here.

00:01:01: I'm very glad to be here.

00:01:03: How are you doing today?

00:01:04: Very good.

00:01:05: As you said, the halls are buzzing and the mood is excellent.

00:01:08: Absolutely.

00:01:09: So we're going to get warmed up a little bit today before I ask you some hard questions with ten rapid fire questions.

00:01:17: Swiss Mountains or Tropical Beach?

00:01:20: Beach.

00:01:21: Paper or plastic bag?

00:01:25: Plastic bag.

00:01:26: Phone call or email?

00:01:29: Phone call.

00:01:30: Physical presence or virtual engagement?

00:01:33: Of

00:01:34: course, physical engagement.

00:01:35: Absolutely.

00:01:36: Street

00:01:37: food or home cooking?

00:01:38: Home cooking.

00:01:40: Plastic toy or wooden toy for children?

00:01:46: That's a hard one.

00:01:47: Plastic

00:01:47: toy.

00:01:48: Okay.

00:01:49: Moderating a panel or hallway chats?

00:01:53: Hallway chats.

00:01:55: Hardcover or e-rear?

00:01:57: Hardcover.

00:01:58: Focus on end product quality or supply chain transparency.

00:02:03: Trust one.

00:02:04: And comedy or thriller?

00:02:07: Comedy.

00:02:08: So, just to get started a little bit, you said home cooking.

00:02:11: I know you're someone who travels so much, I can imagine, being at home and having some home cooked food is always good.

00:02:16: But I must say, there is a lot of good food here at the K that people can try out.

00:02:20: Just... on a side note.

00:02:22: Yeah, absolutely.

00:02:23: Absolutely.

00:02:23: And there are so many international guests around us.

00:02:25: So there's a lot of things that you offer, not only the food, of course.

00:02:30: The dimensions of K, two thousand and twenty five are unbelievably impressive.

00:02:35: We have exhibitors from or three thousand two hundred exhibitors, even more than that from all over the world.

00:02:41: What fascinates you most about it?

00:02:43: Well, you already mentioned a few numbers.

00:02:46: This is already fascinating.

00:02:48: What fascinates me most is when you purely look at this strong demand that we see from exhibitors side, which is fantastic.

00:02:55: Just imagine the show K has been sold out now already for almost one and a half years.

00:03:00: So already since May, twenty twenty four.

00:03:03: That means that really every single square meter.

00:03:06: That we have here next door at the exhibition center is fully packed.

00:03:09: We have exhibitors coming from sixty six nations, which is a record for us.

00:03:14: over three thousand two hundred.

00:03:15: and the who is who of the industry really is showing up here in Düsseldorf to really network to be part of this very fascinating industry and to show innovations.

00:03:25: and you can tell that people have been getting ready for this trade for a long time.

00:03:29: I've seen things online companies huge companies having.

00:03:33: And parties get together just to get ready for K. It really is quite amazing.

00:03:38: I know Mesotosodov has a huge portfolio of really wonderful trade fairs.

00:03:43: What significance does the K have in the airport portfolio?

00:03:46: K has a tremendous significance for the portfolio of Mesotosodov.

00:03:50: It's one of our most important shows.

00:03:52: It's one of our oldest shows.

00:03:53: It's running since nineteen fifty-two.

00:03:56: So we are celebrating the twenty-third edition.

00:03:58: And as you said, You know, the importance that our exhibitors are giving to the show is really unique.

00:04:05: When you go to the halls and you see the stand construction, the investment that has been taking here at the K Fair, it's really unique.

00:04:12: And then you can see that something special is happening.

00:04:14: It's K time.

00:04:15: That's what you will hear often in the halls.

00:04:17: And that really describes why it is so special, K. It's K time.

00:04:21: There is something called the K Alliance.

00:04:23: What exactly is that?

00:04:24: Well, K-aligns for us, you know, we, on the one hand side, during K, we bring the entire world here to Dusseldorf.

00:04:31: And last show we had over a hundred and seventy thousand visitors.

00:04:35: So you really get visitors coming from all over the world to Dusseldorf to make business here.

00:04:40: And this is something that we are very proud of.

00:04:42: And when you go to the halls or into the halls, you will hear languages from all kinds of the world, which is really nice to me.

00:04:49: And this is the special moment for me when I go through the halls.

00:04:52: It's super international.

00:04:54: Now, but on the other hand, we also go and offer direct access to markets to our exhibitors by really forming a lines of exhibitions throughout the entire world, where we as Massachusetts are engaged and where we bring the K quality to different countries.

00:05:11: For example, in South America or Asia, where we do all organize in partnership with other trade fair organizers, the satellite shows, and this is all members of K Alliance.

00:05:23: As I said, you're a very busy person here at the trade fair.

00:05:27: So you have a lot of meetings.

00:05:28: You have to go to a lot of things.

00:05:29: But do you have time to just walk around the fair and take a look at things as a private visitor?

00:05:36: Do you ever have the chance?

00:05:37: Well, of course I do that.

00:05:38: And that's important for me.

00:05:40: Because for K, what is so special about K?

00:05:43: It's mentioned the number of exhibitors, everybody coming together.

00:05:46: But what you can really experience here is machines running to third of our exhibitors on machines.

00:05:52: And when I said earlier and spoke about the investment that has been taking here from our exhibitors, go into the halls, look at this huge machines, right?

00:06:00: It's loud.

00:06:01: You hear machines, you see people standing in front of the machines and really start smiling.

00:06:05: And this is so special, right?

00:06:07: So of course, I do take the time to go through the halls because that's what you do later on in your discussions as well when you speak to our clients and they are so fascinated that people are really coming to see machines running.

00:06:19: So I'm not going to ask you which highlight you have because I mean there are too many but the highlight may be that you can speak about what is happening in the industry and find solutions to the problems that the industry is facing.

00:06:31: innovation, sustainability, digitization, so many circular economy, you're talking about so many topics.

00:06:37: Is there one thing that you think in the next three years is going to be even more important than it is right now?

00:06:42: Well, to answer your question in a very short way, it's of course digitalization AI, but we need to look at it in a wider way.

00:06:50: What do I mean by this?

00:06:51: So definitely our exhibitors and visitors come here to meet their trading demands, that's for sure.

00:06:57: But K is more, is more a platform also where we take a future outlook.

00:07:02: Now, what is driving the industry?

00:07:04: And you already mentioned some very important topics.

00:07:06: It's responsibility, it's AI, it's caring about people, right?

00:07:10: So the power of plastic, that's how we define this case, the power of plastic, green, smart, responsible, right?

00:07:17: And of course, green, it's about sustainability.

00:07:20: The industry has really taking the steps to make sure and to explain to the world out there the importance of plastic and rubber for the industry, but also in light of sustainability, right?

00:07:33: So that's of course something very, very important.

00:07:36: And when I say smart, it's of course smart manufacturing and so on.

00:07:40: And the last one responsibility, it's about caring about people.

00:07:44: We do see in our daily life every day the use and we feel the use of plastics, right?

00:07:50: And this is also why a world today without plastic is not imaginable, you know, food safety, medical devices and so on.

00:07:57: This is all where we see plastic.

00:07:59: So it's of course an extremely important material.

00:08:03: Absolutely.

00:08:03: And it's going to stay that way.

00:08:05: You just said caring about people, you as a team.

00:08:09: here at MesotocidoveCare by people.

00:08:11: Your team of the K is amazing and you're doing a wonderful job.

00:08:14: Thank you so much for being on the show today and enjoy.

00:08:16: I hope you really have time to put on a cap and a pair of glasses and walk around and just take a look for yourself and have some fun and not only work.

00:08:24: Thank you so much, Malia, for being here on the show today.

00:08:26: And I know you've been in the halls.

00:08:29: Maybe you haven't been there yet.

00:08:31: I really think you will, though, in the next couple of days.

00:08:33: And you will see so many things happening.

00:08:36: It is so big you might miss something.

00:08:38: So let's take a look at some vibes from the halls and all the international guests that are here visiting us from all over the world.

00:09:16: So much to see and so little time.

00:09:47: I don't even know where to start.

00:09:48: There's so much going on in the halls at K, two thousand and twenty five.

00:09:52: If you need a little bit of help, maybe check our linked in account or our new Instagram account of voice of K and you'll find out what's going on.

00:10:02: or.

00:10:03: watch trade talk today which you're doing right now and that it was a good choice to make because we have wonderful guests on the show and I'm going to continue with our next guest.

00:10:10: Kastin Ham is great to have you here.

00:10:12: You are CEO of Omnia Performance Polymer Distribution and I hope you're doing very well today.

00:10:17: I'm doing very well.

00:10:18: Thank you for having me today.

00:10:20: It's

00:10:20: great to have you on the show.

00:10:21: We're going to start with ten rapid questions to get us warmed up a little bit.

00:10:24: Coffee to go or in a cafe?

00:10:27: Coffee to go.

00:10:29: Early riser or night owl?

00:10:31: No, early riser.

00:10:32: Okay.

00:10:33: Scaling internally or collaborating with startups?

00:10:37: Collaborating with startups.

00:10:39: E-books or audio books?

00:10:41: Audio books.

00:10:43: Prevention of plastic or smarter recycling?

00:10:46: Smarter recycling.

00:10:48: Casual or formal work style?

00:10:51: Depends very much on the audience.

00:10:53: Absolutely.

00:10:55: Jim at night or run at dawn?

00:10:57: Run at dawn.

00:10:58: Run at dawn this morning?

00:10:59: No.

00:11:00: No, that's okay.

00:11:00: I didn't either.

00:11:02: Reusable cup or return system?

00:11:04: Sorry.

00:11:05: Reusable cup or return system?

00:11:07: Return

00:11:07: system.

00:11:08: Multi-tasking or single focus?

00:11:11: Depends on the job.

00:11:13: Oh, really?

00:11:13: Sure.

00:11:14: Okay.

00:11:15: Digital detox weekend or tech-fuelled productivity?

00:11:20: Detox weekend.

00:11:21: Yeah, I would agree.

00:11:22: Maybe put that together with an audiobook and a morning run and you're in in store for a good weekend.

00:11:29: This weekend you're going to be working though, I hope, because you're at the K and it's great to have you here.

00:11:33: You are, as I said, CEO of Omnia Performance Polymer Distribution.

00:11:37: Can you tell us a little bit about your role and what drives your work within the plastic industry?

00:11:44: Okay, yes, certainly.

00:11:46: I've taken up this role as a CEO of OMEA Performance Polymer Distribution as from last year, November.

00:11:53: And I've been in the business already some time.

00:11:56: I had my first case show in nineteen eighty six, actually, when I was an apprentice in a company in Hamburg.

00:12:02: And since I've been at all case shows.

00:12:05: So I think I'm I'm born into plastics, so to say, and I have this kind of DNA.

00:12:11: and that I've seen a lot of developments.

00:12:14: Well, in the CEO position, of course, for Omnia, that's going to happen with big changes at Omnia Group.

00:12:20: And Omnia has a strategic decision taken to separate a business from the group, which is the polyführer distribution business.

00:12:29: And there's pretty good reason to do that.

00:12:32: It would be too long to explain all of that.

00:12:34: But my role comes with this new strategic approach.

00:12:39: And it's a very exciting role because it gives me a lot of freedom in working out everything that has to be done.

00:12:48: So it starts with creating a leadership team, which I've been doing over summer.

00:12:52: So I had a very hot summer, went into vacation very late and my leadership team is together and it's perfect time for us because the leadership team is actually here.

00:13:01: So it all comes with a lot of changes and good changes and good vibes.

00:13:07: And yeah, my role is obviously to bring this company into the next level.

00:13:11: We have a growth strategy.

00:13:13: We acquire Distapole, a sixty years distribution company in the UK Nordics and Ireland.

00:13:20: and we're integrating this company right now and there's a lot of things around people of course and making sure everybody's motivated and happy and our journey is being defined in a strong strategy approach and so it's a growth strategy on global scale.

00:13:39: So my task is for the next ten years to bring this company into a different league from where it's today.

00:13:45: and this goes very much in line with securing supplier-principer-partner relationships and of course to harmonize a little bit our portfolio which is a bit fragmented today over the years and to make sure we create value of course for our partners, for our customers.

00:14:03: So that's the siting rule, yes.

00:14:06: You are debuting at K this year.

00:14:09: I want to talk about that in a second, but I do have a personal question because you said in nineteen eighty-six you were an intern and were here at the K for the first time.

00:14:17: There have been a lot of changes.

00:14:18: Back then, did you think you would end up being CEO of such a big company?

00:14:22: No, of course not.

00:14:24: Well, I think I didn't thought about it at that time.

00:14:27: I think I was not even sure whether I would stay in this business.

00:14:31: Of course, I was doing an apprenticeship in a company, but I was excited.

00:14:37: I can say I was excited by the internationality of this business.

00:14:41: Of course, I remember it was a bit more exotic at that time because of course the world was here, but they were not.

00:14:49: They were not as as today.

00:14:50: I mean there was not the same uniqueness in clothing and it was a bit different the picture, but I liked it and I like to be at the dinners with our people and I like the whole atmosphere of the industry apart from the plastic world of course everything around that I'm a people's person.

00:15:07: It seems like an industry where people get along.

00:15:09: I don't know what that is, but it seems like a good feel.

00:15:12: So tell us about your debuting here at KM and you told us a lot already about what your plans are.

00:15:17: but What does it mean to debut the new company here at or the new part of the company here at the fair?

00:15:24: Well, it means a lot.

00:15:25: As I said, it could have been not better in time because the case shows every three years and we have not planned to do it at this stage.

00:15:31: But it all comes together very well.

00:15:34: As I said, I'm very happy that we have our team together.

00:15:37: These are president rules, which we have in Asia, Pacific and in America.

00:15:42: So we have two gentlemen here.

00:15:43: We have our leader for Europe here.

00:15:46: And we have also two of our new presidents for the divisions here, which have a global rule.

00:15:53: And obviously, you know, if you do a kind of this of a development like this, you know, you need to get the right people together.

00:16:02: So it's all about a team play.

00:16:04: And when you do an assessment and you choose those people, which we have done, I had, I think, eighty interviews over summer, one hour each.

00:16:13: And we have not used any headhunters to do that.

00:16:16: So also, I didn't want to to to make sure that we're not stealing people from others.

00:16:21: So everybody applies.

00:16:23: for this job and we had one thousand four hundred applications on our website.

00:16:26: so our HR team has done a tremendous job together with me over summer.

00:16:31: and and then it's just it's just so happiness poor to to have this all together now and to to see the people meeting at the breakfast this morning and at the show.

00:16:41: and and yeah it's a lovely exciting time for me right now.

00:16:46: Let's talk about you just talking about how changes and things were different in nineteen eight six and sustainability was not really a topic back then at least I don't think it was it or I know it wasn't as what it is right now.

00:16:58: It seems to me the core of your innovation strategy.

00:17:01: is that true?

00:17:02: as do I see that right?

00:17:04: and how would you describe your.

00:17:05: the role of sustainability and how the customers are responding?

00:17:08: I

00:17:09: think innovation is obviously a very, very big mega trend and it's obviously for us to save the planet and in respect to our next generations, I think we all do the right things.

00:17:21: On the other hand, we are bottom of cycle and we need to make a push.

00:17:25: because I think the credibility as we see is obviously not always in every region of this world the same.

00:17:33: I think Europe is a leader in this innovation and also quite serious about bringing this into the industry and the industry obviously has a lot of tasks to do that.

00:17:45: it's high cost and it's a lot.

00:17:50: of planning involved and it's a high investment as well for the industry not to forget and the transition takes time.

00:17:57: so it's not coming with a kind of big money-making element in due course.

00:18:06: so you need to invest you need to wait but i think we're doing the right thing and the industry our suppliers in particular are doing a lot and we are also very much committed to this as as omia.

00:18:19: There's a lot going on politically.

00:18:20: i'm not even gonna get into that but i think this is the right place to talk to.

00:18:24: people from different countries and come together as an industry to find solutions and maybe not even have to worry about the policymakers right now and find solutions for the industry itself.

00:18:33: Castenham, it was wonderful having you on the show today.

00:18:35: Thank you so much.

00:18:36: All the best for the start and the launch and all the people coming together at the K. Have a great time.

00:18:41: Enjoy the halls, but also enjoy what's happening around it.

00:18:44: Thank you.

00:18:44: I certainly

00:18:45: will.

00:18:45: Thank you very much.

00:18:46: Thanks a lot.

00:18:46: Thank you for having me.

00:18:47: And thank you for watching today and joining us on Trade Talk today.

00:18:52: We have a wonderful show tomorrow with Dr.

00:18:54: Oliver Mönch, that executive director of the German Association of the Plastic Converter and Abby Turner.

00:19:01: EMA marketing director for Dow Europe.

00:19:04: They're both going to be on the show tomorrow.

00:19:07: Until then, make sure you check out all the things going on in the halls.

00:19:10: We have, for example, the plastic shapes of the future stage in hall six.

00:19:14: It is climate Friday tomorrow, which is of course very, very important.

00:19:18: It should be climate day every day.

00:19:21: which I think we're also focusing on here at K. And we have all the guided tours going on.

00:19:25: So there's a lot going on.

00:19:27: As I said before, check out our LinkedIn account, our new Instagram account, for example, Voice of K. And check out Trade Talk today, every day at the K until the fifteenth of October.

00:19:37: Great to have you.

00:19:38: Have a lovely

00:19:46: day.