From a single laser machine in a bedroom to global exports
By Maryse de Preter
What does it mean to make it in the north? This is part of a series of portraits of local people, organisations, and companies working to further internationalise Groningen, Friesland, and Drenthe. This time we spoke to Bakschik Martirosian, owner of laser-cutting company BMTEC, which is based in Emmen.
Bakschik Martirosian, 29, started on his own business seven years ago, and has since found huge success with his laser-cutting company, BMTEC, based in Emmen. Bakschik is very satisfied with working in the province of Drenthe, and hopes to continue to benefit from its opportunities.
Martirosian was born in Armenia, and fled to The Netherlands with his parents 19 years ago because of the unsafe situation in the country.
As a student, Martirosian started his business from his bedroom with a small laser machine. Just seven years later, BMTEC has grown into a worldwide company with customers such as Honeywell, Shell, Siemens VDL and Friesland Campina.
BMTEC is specialised in the laser-cutting of plastics, and supplies more than 120,000 plastic semi-finished products every week for the manufacturing industry. Current customers include companies in the machine building, yacht and ship building, automotive; medical and energy industries. Currently BMTEC has more than 700 active clients.
During the current Coronavirus outbreak, BMTEC also produced plastic screens for supermarkets and pharmacies as a preventative measure against the Coronavirus.
According to Martirosian doing business in Drenthe offers a lot of opportunities. ‘’The space and location actually make it attractive to do business here’’. The location in Emmen is ideal because BMTEC’s customers are, more and more, based in Germany. ‘’It’s quite hard to find the right people, but we managed it so far’’.
When looking back to the start of the company in 2013, Martirosian can certainly say that he is proud of its growth and achievements. He mentions that one of the main reasons for this is that he can hold on to his ideas and believe in them: ‘’the result is that I can create a great company.”
According to Martirosian entrepreneurs must persist and believe in their business to succeed. Naturally, this viewpoint comes from his own experience: starting with nothing and seven years later being an owner of a company with more than hundred international clients.
Although Martirosian speaks positively about being in Drenthe, it took some time before he was used to the mentality: “I had the feeling that people in Drenthe take an opinion about something even though they don’t know you. Once they get to know you, they are very friendly’’. This mentality is also noticeable when doing business: “It takes you a while to gain confidence from people from Drenthe. Once they know you, it’s okay’’.
Martiosian is very pleased with the culture of Drenthe: “The people are very friendly and loyal. I have been living here for 18 years now and I feel at home in Drenthe’’. Currently, BMTEC is working on an automation project to make its services more scalable in the future. “This allows us to make our services and products available all over Europe. And this all from our location in Emmen.”
