PETpla.net Insider 12 / 2015

BOTTLE MAKING 14 PET planet insider Vol. 16 No. 12/15 www.petpla.net From DIY user to machine manufacturer by Kay Barton Terekas, a machine builder, bottle and preform producer based in Kretinga, Lithuania, claims to be the largest com- pany of its type in the Baltic States, in terms of size and output. The major part of its business is now the manufac- ture and supply of blow-moulding machines for a broad client base. Their machines are distinguished from the broader market by being made of standardised components - a concept that was born of necessity. In 1994, a few years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, broth- ers Juozas and Almantas Maksvytis obtained a property that had been a heavy industry repair centre during the Soviet era. The young entrepre- neurs, who were just in their mid- thirties at that time, saw potential in the property and decided to become active in the newly flourishing PET bottle market. They invested in a PET blow moulding machine and started producing bottles. A good decision, as it turned out, as more and more Lithuanian bottlers were switching from glass to plastic containers and the availability of PET bottles was limited. Terekas’ customer base and associated output grew and ultimately triggered the first repair work for the blow moulding machine. This turned out to be a crucial turning point in the company’s future growth; in order to save time and money the brothers developed a solution to replace defec- tive parts with standard purchased components. In keeping with the idea of “learning by doing”, other machines that Terekas acquired over the fol- Terekas‘ blow moulder „Lito“