Packaging manufacturers across the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia and BENELUX are under mounting pressure to cut waste, control energy costs and speed up production without sacrificing margins. Meeting that challenge takes a sales and service partner that understands where a customer's business is heading before they do.
Since 1 July 2026, Craig Moran has been Managing Director for BOBST's UK, Ireland and Scandinavia business, with added responsibility for sales and marketing across the BENELUX. He carries overall accountability for sales and service across every product line and industry segment in his territory.
We sat down with Craig to talk through his priorities for the region and how BOBST is responding to the pressures currently driving the packaging industry.
What are your goals for BOBST's sales and service operations?
“The future of the organisation depends on succession planning done properly. That means partnering with customers rather than simply selling to them, understanding where their business plans are heading, and building solutions around that.”
What can your customers specifically expect from BOBST?
Craig points to the pace of change in customer needs as the driver behind BOBST's own evolution. “We're continuously evolving our services and support to keep pace with what customers actually need. As a result, we are able to offer a continuous service rather than just a one-time fix.”
What measures will you take to turn these goals into reality?
For Craig, it comes down to a combination of people and processes. “Importantly, we're investing in our people and our processes to ensure we're approaching the market the right way, with Institute of Leadership and Management training programmes in place to develop key expertise across the business. We also provide intensive field service technician training days, refreshing knowledge across critical process areas, as well as training for our customer care specialists and sales product training on new innovations. Good intentions don't mean much without the right team and the right systems behind them.”
How is BOBST expanding its offering to provide even more targeted support to customers optimising their machines and workflows?
“The answer here lies with BOBST CONNECT, BOBST’s cloud-based IoT platform for linking production machinery, data, and workflow steps into a single system. It's about driving toward higher quality output and using digitalisation to bring a younger generation into the packaging industry. That's as much about the future workforce as it is about the machines themselves.”
Which process improvements are currently the highest priorities for your customers?
Craig lists waste reduction, faster set-up times and higher quality. “All of it comes back to reducing the cost of manufacturing. Customers are watching their margins closely, and we need to help them protect those margins.”
Are you seeing any shifts in the trends shaping the packaging production market?
Labour and energy costs are pushing customers toward efficiency, according to Craig. “Those cost pressures are driving customers to find efficiencies wherever they can find them. It's changing how they think about investment.”
Do you have any succession plans in place? Any initiatives to acquire new talent?
“Planning is already in place. We've promoted people at every level within BOBST based on experience, and we've kept the future in mind with every one of those decisions.”
Craig's focus for the region comes down to the simple idea that if you build the team and the process first, then the results follow. For customers across the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia and BENELUX, that means a closer relationship with BOBST at every stage, from initial investment through to day-to-day operations.
To talk through what this means for your operation, get in touch with the BOBST UK, Ireland and Scandinavia team directly at support@mybobst.com.
