PETpla.net Insider 05 / 2017

PET news 6 NEWS PET planet Insider Vol. 18 No. 05/17 www.petpla.net United Caps to open manufacturing facility in Malaysia United Caps announced an investment in the devel- opment of manufacturing capabilities in Malaysia. The company will be building a state-of-the-art manufactur- ing facility to meet increasing customer demand in the region for its advanced caps and closures. “We are experiencing significant growth in South East Asia,” said Benoît Henckes, CEO. “In keeping with our ‘Close to You’ strategy, this expansion of manufacturing capabilities allows us to continue to capitalise on the dynamic growth opportunities in the region and better serve our local customers. Localising production of our pioneering closure technologies in the South East Asian marketplace is the next logical step in our business expansion.” United Caps conducted an extensive search and determined that property in the Kulim High Tech Park provided an optimum location for the new manufactur- ing facility, expected to be fully operational in the first quarter of 2018. “This investment will initially create more than 20 new jobs in the region,” Henckes added, “and enable the local production of about 300 million closures in the first year. We are excited about the opportunity to bring our advanced technology to the new facility, and also to support the local community with jobs and other opportunities.” www.unitedcaps.com R&D/Leverage promotes Mike Stiles to CEO April 26, 2017 R&D/Leverage, head- quartered in Lee’s Summit, MO, USA announced the promotion of Mike Stiles to CEO. Stiles joined the company in 2000 as an Account Manager and was promoted to Director of Sales in 2015. He has been instrumental in helping to grow R&D/Leverage to a globally recognised manufacturer of precision injection and injection stretch blow moulds, and struc- tural brand development for Fortune 500 customers in the rigid packaging, con- sumer products and healthcare markets. According to Stiles, the process of becoming more than just a mould maker over the past decade involved understanding the customers’ requirements and collaborating with them to solve their challenges and problems. Structural Brand Development is a value- added proposition that R&D/Leverage implemented to help custom- ers. While that part of the Company’s business doesn’t come into play on every project, Stiles noted that many of R&D/Leverage’s customers depend on this expertise that includes market research and trends, and other branding considerations. For those who come with the upfront structural branding & design work completed, R&D/ Leverage puts every project that comes through the doors through a risk analysis process. Stiles sees good things for R&D/Leverage’s future. “I see us continuing with what is currently our biggest growth segment, which is high quality, high cavitation, ultra-precision injection moulds that are required for the medical and packaging markets. These are areas where we currently have a large and stable customer base. We are recognised as industry innovators when it comes to imple- menting some of the latest direct side-gate or direct angled-tip hot runner systems for injection moulds and this is producing many opportunities. Additionally, we have plans in place to increase our global footprint in the injection blow mould and injection stretch blow mould segment – stay tuned.” R&D/Leverage is hosting their tri-annual Open House this September 20-22, where new developments will be presented and demonstrated during plant tours and presentation series. The theme of the event is “Breaking Down The Silos In Plastic Packaging” fea- turing Keynote speaker, Gerry O’Brion “What Big Brands Know”. www.rdleverage.com Beverages-related joint venture in Singapore Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd. (“SHI”) and its subsidiary Izumi Food Machinery Co., Ltd. have established a beverage machinery related joint venture company with Germany-based Krones AG to develop the Asia region. Through the establish- ment of this joint venture company, SHI Group aims to capitalise on the know-how and supply chain of Krones and accelerate the development of its beverage machinery business in the Asia region. Under the name Krones-Izumi Processing Pte. Ltd., the joint venture which will be located in Singapore, targets facili- ties that manufacture soft drinks, juice, tea, coffee, water, milk, soy sauce and other beverages (excluding food, ice cream and alcoholic drinks) in the Asia Pacific region, excluding Japan, China and India. The Memorandum of Understanding was finalised on April 25, 2017. Operations are expected to start in June this year. www.shi.co.jp WikiPETia .info New contents at wikipetia.info