PETpla.net Insider 12 / 2010

imprint EDITORIAL PUBLISHER Alexander Büchler, Managing Director HEAD OFFICE heidelberg business media GmbH Landhausstr. 4 69115 Heidelberg, Germany phone: +49(0)6221-65108-0 fax: +49(0)6221-65108-28 info@hbmedia.net EDITORIAL Doris Fischer f ischer@hbmedia.net Michael Maruschke Ruari McCallion Tony O´Neill Ilona Trotter Wolfgang von Schroeter Anthony Withers MEDIA CONSULTANTS Ute Andrä andrae@hbmedia.net Miriam Kiesler kiesler@hbmedia.net phone: +49(0)6221-65108-0 fax: +49(0)6221-65108-28 France, Italy, Spain, UK Elisabeth Maria Köpke phone: +49(0)6201-878925 fax: +49(0)6201-878926 koepke@hbmedia.net LAYOUT AND PREPRESS Exprim Kommunikationsdesign Matthias Gaumann | www.exprim.de READER SERVICES Kay Krüger reader@hbmedia.net PRINT WDW Druck GmbH Gustav-Throm-Straße 1 69181 Leimen-St.Ilgen Germany WWW www.petpla.net | in dia.petpla.net PETplanet insider ISSN 1438-9459 is published 10 times a year. This publication is sent to qualified subscribers (1-year subscription 149 EUR, 2-year subscription 289 EUR, Young professionals’ sub- scription 99 EUR. Magazines will be dispatched to you by airmail). Not to be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. Note: The fact that product names may not be identified as trade marks is not an indication that such names are not registered trademarks. 3 PET planet insider Vol. 11 No. 12/10 www.petpla.net News round-up from the preform production scene For those PET-experts strolling round the K-Fair, Evolution rather than Revolution will have been uppermost in their thoughts. Only amongst the pre- formers were we able to discover the any mechanical engineering content. It is amazing how Husky, as a world market leader, continues to be able to further exploit the technological and economic potential inherent in preform manufacture. “Output/ Capital“ is the guiding theme as far as the Canadians are concerned. Today, it’s the all-electric machines (H-PET AE 180) and we also find the theme being taken up for smaller moulds (32 times over) too. John Galt, Husky CEO, said in a PETplanet interview that integral components (clamping unit and injection unit) were based on components from the Japanese injection moulding machine manufacturer Toyo, although the system integration is still 100% Husky as before. A 22g EcoBase preform for a 1l (still) water bottle represents a new benchmark with a cycle time of 11.8s. Husky’s fiercest competitor in the hot runner field, Mold Masters, has now also turned its attentions to the preform sector. Having acquired a 100% stake in the stack manufacturer Abba, mould production is now entirely in the hands of the Canadians. However, the real showpiece was the MasterPET system in which the mould change can be carried out within 18mi instead of the usual 4h. Bruce Catoen said in the PETplanet interview that, because of the articulated robot, the cycle time is some 2/10ths of a second slower than with a linear robot but where frequent tool changes are the norm, the system quickly pays for itself. This makes the system ideal for high-flexibility production. In the coming year Mold Masters will be a full-line supplier, that is, they will be offering a mix of mould and machine in their range. Olicorp, who are looking to reinvent the compression moulding of per- forms, are trying out a new “old” approach. Although Sacmi has already been working on a technology of this kind, Olicorp is hoping to win over customers for themselves, with practically the same technical approach and adopting the business model “Pay as you sell“. Payment will be made for each preform sold. In this the marketing concept is similar to the con- cept of converter Dynoplast back in the 80’s,.Since that time the market has undergone a radical change. Whereas the converters at the time were still selling bottles to the bottler, these days many bottlers manufacture the bottles themselves. Perhaps today the time is riper than it was 30 years ago for a leasing model such as the one offered by Olicorp. We are looking forward eagerly to the first reports from customers. The interviews with John Galt, Husky and Bruce Catoen, Mold-Masters as well as other reports on significant developments found at K’ 2010 will be appearing in forthcoming issues. Some of the highlights can be found on pages 28-32. Yours, Alexander Büchler EDITORIAL dear readers, EDITORIAL