PETpla.net Insider 04 / 2010

REGIONAL MARKET REPORTS 13 PET planet insider Vol. 11 No. 04/10 www.petpla.net IN EVERY BOTTLE THERE IS ALL OUR KNOW HOW. G:H:6G8= 9:K:ADEB:CI 6 XdchiVci egd_ZXi^dc idlVgYh i]Z [jijgZ dg^ZciZY id hZVgX] cdi dcan [dg cZl bViZg^Vah Wji Vahd cZl E:I iZX]cdad\^Zh d[ igVch[dgbVi^dc VcY ^ccdkVi^kZ bViZg^Vah# 8DCHJAI6C8N 6 XdcXgZiZ VchlZg id Vaa ndjg fjZhi^dch# LZ eji Vi ndjg Y^hedhVa Vaa djg `cdl"]dl [dg ZkZgn h^c\aZ gZfj^gZbZci# EGDIDINE6I>DC EgdidineZh d[ XdciV^cZgh VcY ^ccdkVi^kZ egZ[dgbh ^c gZXdgY i^bZh/ ndj l^aa WZ VWaZ id idjX] l^i] ndjg ]VcYh i]Z WdiiaZh l^i]^c V h]dgi i^bZ V[iZg VeegdkVa d[ i]Z YZh^\c# 9:H><C 8gZVi^k^in ^c hZVgX] d[ ZaZ\VcXZ VcY gZÒcZbZci# >ccdkVi^kZ YZh^\ch! Zg\dcdb^X higjXijgZh! ZnZ"XViX]^c\ VcY [jcXi^dcVa XdciV^cZgh# LZ \^kZ V igjZ h]VeZ id ndjg egdYjXi The use of PET does not have to be restricted to the beverage business - today there are an increasing number of applications in the pharmaceutical industry and for domes- tic and industrial cleaners. The Taba Group in Cairo has established a very good reputation in these newer applica- tions. However since 1988 the history of the company has been in the cap business, and today Taba produces caps for pharmaceutical and medical products on injection mould- ing machines. These include three-piece caps with a safety band and a suitable liner, complex 4-piece child-proof caps with liner, inner cap, outer cap and safety band, caps with an integrated pipette, as well as measuring cups from 2.5 to 36ml. The work carried out includes assembly and printing of the caps. The Taba Group supplies all of the big names in the phar- maceutical and cleaning chemicals industries. A fairly good percentage of the products remain in Egypt, and Taba exports to clients in the Middle East and North Africa region and some countries in Europe”. We asked general manager Ahmed Shalaby why these international groups are ordering from him. “There are three reasons,” he said. “Firstly the price. In comparison with European manufacturers we can produce for about 10 % less. But also international groups in the Arab states have to pay high import tariffs which we, within the Arab world, do not have to pay, or we pay only a very small percentage. This ultimately means a price advantage over European production. Secondly, and perhaps more important, is the quality. Our injection moulding machines up to 50t in size come from Dr. Boy, and from 50t to 200t they are from Krauss-Maffei. The cap tools also come from European toolmakers such as KTW in Austria.This means that the clients get the same quality as they find in Europe. Thirdly, we have a high degree of flexibility here. Whilst in Europe production schedules and capacities are planned well in advance, we are in a position to respond quickly to different volume requirements”. Taba was in fact almost forced into the PET business by its clients. “Can you make bottles for us as well?” was a frequent question from them. No sooner said than done! Taba first started producing PET bottles for the pharmaceutical industry using single-stage machines, but the demand soon grew and for big quantities they had to start using the two- stage system. Based on their good experience with the Krauss-Maffei injection moulding machines used for caps, in 2007 the com- pany decided to invest in a KM preform system from Munich. Ahmed Shalaby looked at all of the big five manufacturers of stretch blow moulding machines and finally decided that the Sipa SFL 4/4 was the optimum machine for his needs. So today the Krauss-Maffei preform system stands along- side the linear stretch blow moulder producing the bottles. “Because the changeover from one preform to another takes a lot of time we let the machine run for up to a month with one preform type and build up some stock. After all, a preform is very compact. For bottles, on the other hand, we make fre- quent changeovers on the SBM because bottles take up a lot of space,” explained Ahmed Shalaby. Business is growing and a further production hall is cur- rently being built, in which another Krauss-Maffei and another SBMmachine will be installed.