PETpla.net Insider 05 / 2011

PET TOP TALK 16 PET planet insider Vol. 12 No. 05/11 www.petpla.net Otto Hofstetter AG Otto Hofstetter AG – established in 1955 – is still in private ownership today. Otto Hofstetter Jr. is the second generation to head the company which today employs 185 staff, of whom 23 are apprentices. Production in Uznach/Switzerland covers an area of 11,000m². The company has an international outlook and exports almost 100% of its products. Sales trend 53 million CHF in 200 48 million CHF in 2009 59 million CHF in 2010 (highest ever turnover achieved) Hofstetter PET milestones: 1977 Production of the first 16cav. mould for PET preforms 1987 Development of 2-component technology 1998 Launch of 96-cavity moulds 2002 Presentation of 64/72 cavity moulds to fit into a 350t machine 2003 Launch of 144-cavity moulds to fit into a 600t machine 2005 New 96-cavity moulds with 38mm neck diameter based on a 350t machine (world’s first) 2007 128-cavity moulds based on a 350t machine (world’s first). 2009 60-cavity moulds based on a 200t machine (world’s first). 2010 Presentation of a thin wall preform produced with a 60-cavity mould during the K’2010. www.otto-hofstetter.com/pet In plastics production even the smallest metal fragments can have far-reaching consequences. Total machinery protection guarantees high productivity and optimizes machine utilisation. Foreign body detection and separation for production and recycling S+S offers comprehensive separation and sorting solutions for the entire PET product life cycle: for the protection of injection moulding machinery for preforms and closures as well as for separation or material sorting – from systems for whole bottle sorting to highly sensitive PET particle separation. All about PET S+S Separation and Sorting Technology GmbH Metal Detectors Metal Separators Magnetic Separators Sorting Systems www.sesotec.com/pet The existing 350t injection mould- ing machine is fitted with a relatively large mould for increased output and at the same time at lower costs. Since this mould was introduced we have succeeded in winning over many customers to this concept. A further example that we exhib- ited at K in Düsseldorf is thin wall preforms, which enable us to keep below the current ultra-sonic wall of 2mm wall thickness. Our long-term know-how gleaned from the thin wall packaging sector and stretching back over many years is helpful. Stability in the Hofstetter mould is a prerequi- site for the high pressure levels which are in turn a precondition for even thinner walled preforms. On the challenges PETplanet: Developments in the PET business are currently moving solely in the direction of greater numbers of cavities and lightweight- ing. What technical requirements are there in addition? Stefan Zatti: In China, mar- kets are where enormous growth is coming from. There it’s quantity they