PETpla.net Insider 03 / 2012

imprint EDITORIAL PUBLISHER Alexander Büchler, Managing Director HEAD OFFICE heidelberg business media GmbH Häusserstr. 36 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 Ilona Trotter Wolfgang von Schroeter Anthony Withers MEDIA CONSULTANTS Ute Andrä andrae@hbmedia.net Martina Hischmann hirschmann@hbmedia.net Ursula Wachter wachter@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 Louis Hofmann Druck- und Verlagshaus GmbH & Co. KG Domänenweg 9 96242 Sonnefeld/Oberfranken 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. 13 No. 03/12 www.petpla.net EDITORIAL dear readers, EDITORIAL Husky or Netstal? This is the question the producers of preforms would ask themselves in most instances when they needed to buy a new preform installa- tion. Again and again attempts have been made to penetrate the strong market position enjoyed by these two companies. Arburg or Engel come to mind. Finally, at the K-Fair, the gauntlet was thrown down by Mold Masters. This month two further companies keen to get involved in the high end – high volume segment - have appeared on the scene. These two companies have been well-known for a long time in the preform sector: their names are Sipa and Sacmi. In terms of technology, Sipa is certainly starting from an outstanding position as it has its own preform tool shop and many years of experi- ence with its preform lines (see article p.14). The same applies to Sacmi, who are able to contribute extensive know-how as far as the preform is concerned (see article p.18). Common to both injection moulding plants is that they do not simply exist in the form of an idea but the Sacmi line can be viewed at the plant during Plast Milano, whilst the Sipa line is set to make its public debut at the NPE. Another common denominator is the fact that they are anxious to manu- facture preforms more cheaply than the established machine manufac- turers. In so doing they are looking at maintaining existing floor space requirements or even at reducing the existing footprint, not to mention lower investment costs. The difference from the established suppliers from Canada and Swit- zerland is that both Italians are designers and builders of preform tools, stretch blow moulding installations as well as bottling lines and are mar- keting these successfully. The presence of such knowledge from pellet to pallet is something that is not available in this distinctive form at Netstal and Husky. This may become a catalyst as far as the Italians are concerned: after all, in the last few years we have noticed that bottling plants are putting more effort into building up their own preform capacity. Netstal and Husky will need to go about winning the confidence of the bottlers here - Sipa and Sacmi already have at least one foot in the door. So, in the long term, the question is, who the new / old competitors are now poised to take market share away from: Husky or Netstal? Yours Alexander Büchler