PETpla.net Insider 06 / 2017

41 TRADE SHOW REVIEW PET planet Insider Vol. 18 No. 06/17 research. We need to keep in mind that our customers can simply adapt their filling lines to the new closure. Design it and make it work on our customer filling lines. This also includes support which we naturally offer as part of our service package. PETplanet: Turning now to your international business operations. At the beginning of May, you made it known that United Caps would be investing in a Malaysian facil- ity to enable you to operate on the South-East Asian market. Can you explain the thinking behind this decision and say a little about how things stand at present? Henckes: Until now, United Caps has operated exclusively in Europe. Our multi-national clients have also been asking us to have a presence in the Asian region so we are really following our customers’ lead. That is why we are investing around €10m in a state-of-the-art manu- facturing facility in Malaysia. Why Malaysia in particular? Firstly, it is a good source of people who have a highly skilled technical background. In addition, we have found a suitable location in Kulim High Tech Park which has first-rate logistical connections, being close to both a harbour and Singapore from where we can easily supply all the countries of South-East Asia. PETplanet: How will pro- duction be carried out on site and what manufacturing meth- ods will you be using? Henckes: The intention is to move some of our production activities from Europe to Malaysia where we will use exactly the same manufacturing meth- ods. Our aim is not to compete with local low cost suppliers but to provide expert support to our customers on the ground. For that reason, we will work exclusively with injection mould- ing just as we do over here, utilising the same, mostly fully electrical sys- tems. We will move quickly to set up 10 mainly automated production lines which are expected to be completed by the beginning of next year. PETplanet: Mr Henckes. Many thanks for taking the time to talk to us. www.unitedcaps.com ChemTrend.com PROTECT YOUR ASSETS. Team up with Lusin ® and Ultra Purge ™ Lusin ® and Ultra Purge ™ form a winning combination Ultra Purge™ and Lusin® purging compounds , release agents and mold maintenance products protect your assets by reducing downtime, increasing efficiency and extending the life of your tooling.