Over the last five years, one of the foreign companies garnering the most attention at the Havana International Trade Fair has been Agostini GmbH. Of course, no one has handed the company any of its accomplishments. The printing sector supplier has shown that Switzerland, a country known for its chocolates and watches, also knows a good deal about technology.
Although the company established itself in Cuba two decades ago, the international economic association has changed its status within the Cuban business world several times.
Since 2002, Agostini GmbH has been represented by the Trotec and Trodat brands, belonging to Trodat Trotec Holding Company GmbH. The first is a world leader in the fabrication of laser machines to engrave, cut, and mark all types of materials; the other, the manufacturer of the world's largest stamping equipment.
Trotec considers laser technology a new industrial revolution, and it continues to establish new, higher standards. Providing evidence of the Austrian manufacturer's success is its catalogue including a wide range of products, from plotter and galvanic lasers to personalized work stations, extraction systems to software for the planet's most advanced lasers.
Likewise, with its own products and those of different subsidiaries, characterized by modern, functional design, Trodat, also Austrian, focuses on instruments for marking and labeling, appropriate for a variety of uses. To allow this equipment to produce clean, clear impressions, the sister company, Trotec, creates technology to support stamping manufacturers.
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Speaking with Granma International about the updating of Cuba's economic model, Beat Agostini, Agostini GmbH representative in Cuba, refers to prospects for future logistical development being considered and underway in the Mariel Special Development Zone, with the creation of a new port and the generation of spill-over productive links.
Although Agostini GmbH has not yet invested directly in Cuba, the executive believes that efforts to attract foreign investors are positive, helping the economy grow, while also increasing demand for his company's products.
Initially, Agostini explains, the company arrived with experience to share in the graphic industry, and helped to modernize printing equipment, at the same time replacing that which could not be repaired or maintained.
Subsequently, the idea of producing personalized stamps emerged. The first to be created were for the Ministry of Public Health, and thus, Agostini recounts, recognition of the brand names Trotec and Trodat in Cuba began to grow.
Since then, for more than a decade now, the companies have contributed significantly to industrial progress on the island, with lasers for Speedy engraving machines and rubber stamps as their best-known products in the country.
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"We always had the notion that on the island, in terms of printed material, we would provide only 10% of what would be produced in any super-capitalist economy," he said, while noting the great potential for Trodat-Trotec in the sector, especially now, as the number of hotels and businesses in Cuba increases.
According to María Elena Ortiz, Agostini GmbH purchasing and sales agent, "Cuba depends on importing spare parts, supplies, etc. to allow the printing industry to function. While printers may be costly, they are very necessary tools."
In tourism, as well as state and private enterprises, more information, printed material, and decoration are demanded. Thus, Agostini explains, the company is working more with printers, copy machines, binding, and stamps, which is changing its profile.
For example, he reported, the company is emphasizing multi-color stamps, since almost 100% of those used in Cuba provide a single color mark (black, red, or blue), while internationally multi-color stamps are more widely used.
Moreover, in Cuba almost all documents require a stamp. "Wherever you sign, there's a stamp. What better, more economical carrier of information, images, or publicity about Cuban entities exists than a stamp?" Agostini asks.
Agostini GmbH represents more than 10 excellent, exclusively European, manufacturers (based in Switzerland, Germany, Italy, and Austria). While they may not be the least expensive at the time of the initial investment, over the long run, the expert explains, "They are more economical, because their durability, flexibility, and quality are guaranteed."
These companies also offer the possibility of developing new products, Agostini continues, "We are fortunate because our manufacturers are very innovative. Almost all of them have this same characteristic; they are the first in their field worldwide. Thus they continue to advance the technology and allow us to bring the latest to Cuba."
The company serves a varied clientele, including for example, the publishing industry, with industrial equipment to print books, although Ortiz explains, "Our real, direct clients are more than ten exporters, who send products to the printers, presses, banks and promoters."
Agostini adds that, in terms of the stamps, one would have to list hundreds of clients across the country.
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This combination of several factors has allowed for Agostini GmbH's establishment in Cuba. On the one hand, well prepared Cuban personnel who understand the market in which the company has worked for 20 years; and on the other, a selection of high quality products.
It is noteworthy that Beat Agostini affirms, "It would not have been possible to operate the equipment or produce everything needed, without the number of designers who have been trained over a short period of time.
"We have not tried to become millionaires in Cuba, but rather to offer a durable, state-of-the-art product. Thus we have created a space that has justified our longstanding presence here," he said.
Another factor is the reality that the country is developing, offering multiple opportunities to domestic and international enterprises.
"I believe this has been affected by the knowledge and will of Cubans to move forward, this is another key to producing more and better," he says.
In particular, Agostini note that recently the Havana International Trade Fair has reaffirmed itself as a valuable commercial event, showing increasing professionalism, and added that he hoped there would be others like it.
Novelties for the company in 2016, beyond the promotion of multi-color stamps, included the introduction of new technology to ink them.
Plus, in regards to laser technology, Agostini GmbH is promoting signage, especially that using two tones, and experimenting with printing on a variety of materials, including acrylic, aluminum, glass, paper, plastic, and marble.
Polyvinyl choride (PVC) is not being used, the executive reported, because this type of plastic becomes toxic when in contact with the laser's heat.
Agostini GmbH is also promoting a new recyclable material that is light and rigid, the first of its kind that can be cut, engraved, or printed with a laser. Agostini explains, "The cutting process is becoming increasingly detailed and precise. The reduction of the machines' margin of error means they can create increasingly complex objects."
Likewise, the supplier recently announced the debut in Cuba of the world's largest rubber stamp that can be used in warehouses and in dispatching merchandise.
