PETpla.net Insider 04 / 2016

BOTTLE MAKING 22 PET planet insider Vol. 17 No. 04/16 www.petpla.net Singing from the same hymn sheet by Alexander Büchler At the NPE, Milacron was displaying its M-PET 300 preform line, with the aim of demonstrating how all the group com- panies in the PET sector are working together to provide a total systems solution. We interviewed Rich Sieradzki, Vice President and General Manager of PET Systems to find out how things are going. Milacron has a portfolio of product brands that can offer customers both unified system solutions as well as individual product offerings: For PET systems, the Mold-Masters product brand develops the hot runners and moulds, the Ferromatik product brand works on machine frames, the Co- Injection team, formerly Kortek, brings multi-layer expertise and the Uniloy product brand its blow-moulding PET technology. It was important for Rich to demonstrate that these once sepa- rate firms are now flourishing together under the Milacron roof. The machine displayed at the NPE went to Bomatic Inc, a converter for bottles, mainly in the household clean- ing materials and chemical packages sector. The Californian suppliers can also provide special applications for bottles in the drinks industry. Rich sees the area of milk as an initial target for the M-PET series, and in conjunction with Milacron’s multi- layer technology there will certainly be a number of solutions on offer. The firm’s Uniloy product brand already has a good reputation in the milk sector with its extrusion blow-mould- ing machines, meaning that there is a ready-made entry point into the market by this route. Rich also sees significant demand in the pharmaceuticals area. Here, more and more processors are moving away from one-step or extru- sion moulded containers towards 2-step PET bottles. In his view, the reason for this is not just the higher production volume but also the requirement for higher quality in the sector. Milacron is also able to offer cutting-edge technologies. By work- ing together with PTI, they can also create foamed preforms. The M-PET series is available in 150t (up to 48 cavities), 300t and 500t (up to 144 cavities) clamping force classes. This servo-hydraulic model is designed entirely from components made by divisions of Milacron, and includes the machine, hot runner, mould, robot and end-of- arm tooling. The machine and post- mould cooling is almost entirely