PETpla.net Insider 11 / 2010

PET news 6 PET planet insider Vol. 11 No. 11/10 www.petpla.net Mold-Masters acquires Abba Systems, announces MasterPET brand Hot runner solutions supplier Mold-Masters has com- pleted the purchase of Abba Systems of Brantford, Ontario. Abba Systems and Mold-Masters have been working together in a marketing alliance to build PET preform moulds since 2009. Bruce Catoen, Vice President of Business and Product Development, said that Abba’s expertise in pre- form stack manufacturing complements Mold-Masters’ core strengths. The acquisition comes after the companies had been working together for a period of nine months. The Abba Systems PET business is changing its name, from iPET to MasterPET (MPET). Abba Systems was founded in 1993 and is a global supplier of precision machined solu- tions. It employs 78 people and is located in Brantford, Ontario. www.moldmasters.com Sidel opens SA subsidiary October 12 saw Sidel South Africa host its inaugural cus- tomer conference in Johannesburg, which focused on ‘Sus- tainability in Packaging’. The company established its South African subsidiary in June 2010. Based in Johannesburg, it provides sales and support to customers in South Africa itself, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique, Lesotho and Swaziland. Sidel has an existing installed base of more than 400 machines in Southern Africa. The region is viewed as a growing market in all types of beverage business. According to Euromonitor, 3.5 billion litres of beer and 4 billion litres of CSD were con- sumed in South Africa in 2009. Forecasts for 2010 to 2014 are also positive. “We plan to bring additional resources onboard soon in order to offer more service capabilities and competences,” said Mart Tijsmann, Sidel President and CEO. “We are confident that economic growth in the future will continue to drive beverage consumption in Southern Africa.” www.sidel.com Changes in Husky’s Americas sales organisation Husky Injection Molding Systems has announced that Mike Urquhart, Vice-President, Latin America Sales since 2007, is to assume leadership responsibility for Husky’s cus- tomer relationships throughout the Americas. The appoint- ment comes after the announcement by Carmen Lowe, Vice- President North American Sales, of his intention to retire. Mr Lowe joined Husky in 1987; Mr Urquhart has been with the company since 1980. www.husky.ca Arabian filling company chooses Corvaglia cap solution The Masafi company, of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is an established supplier in the Gulf region of natural min- eral water, fresh and natural fruit juices and other prod- ucts. It has been using its own-manufactured standard closures for cold-fill products and imported two-piece caps for hot-fill from Australia. After the conclusion of a suc- cessful trial period, Masafi is now using one-piece hot-fill caps it produces itself on a 16-cavity tool supplied by Cor- vaglia, of Eschlikon, Switzerland. Corvaglia has been sell- ing the one-piece concept to companies in several Latin American companies. After the market launch of the cap by an international beverage filler in Mexico, Corvaglia presented the one-piece hot-fill cap to Masafi. Initial trials used 38mm caps; following minor modifications to the fill- ing equipment, the concept was accepted and Masafi has now become the first beverage filler in the Middle East to produce its own hot-fill caps, using a 16-cavity tool sup- plied by Corvaglia. The one-piece caps are claimed to offer a number of economic and environmental advantages. They are made from one type of material – HDPE – and processed in a single injection moulded step. Corvaglia says that fillers can cut costs by more than 30%, compared to conven- tional multi-piece hot-fill caps, from savings in machinery, materials and processing. A critical point is the transition period from overpressure, which is cause by hot filling and occurs immediately after filling, and the vacuum that occurs after the bottle is cooled down. It is also vital that the cap is leakproof at the second stage, in order to avoid ingress of cooling water. Corvaglia claims to achieve secure seals by design and product geometry. The two- start 38mm closure, when screwed down, provides suf- ficient tension for a perfectly tight seal, which is main- tained by deformation of the cap during cooling. Corvaglia reports that other beverage fillers in the Middle East have also declared an interest in its hot-fill cap system. www.corvaglia.ch Supply agreement for Husky and Toyo Machinery and Metal Co. Husky Injection Molding Systems has formed a strate- gic supply agreement with Toyo Machinery and Metal Co., Ltd. Toyo will provide components and assemblies to be integrated into the new H-PET AE and H-MED AE systems that Husky launched at the K 2010 Show in Dusseldorf. Husky says that the new systems will complement its Hylectric platform-based product line and will offer quality and performance but in a smaller size. All functions within the workcell will be managed by the company’s PC-based Polaris Control system. www.husky.ca