PETpla.net Insider 04 / 2018

EDITOUR PET planet Insider Vol. 19 No. 04/18 www.petpla.net 12 Don’t talk, listen! Has been the motto of John Galt, President and CEO of Husky for many years. We spoke with him on a variety of topics covering Husky’s change of ownership, new technologies, competition, history and about what the future holds. All of these themes are part and parcel of John’s and therefore Husky’s focus on customer requirements. PETplanet: Hello John: Husky is now 65 years old and has had two Presidents in that time. You have been its second since 2005. Such continuity is unique in the PET machine building world. Do you find such continuity more stressful or does it just spur you on? John Galt: The role of CEO is stressful, but that continuity helps. It helps to create an opportunity to learn. Being at Husky for so long has given me an opportunity to learn about our industry, try things and learn from my mistakes. PETplanet: Continuity is not always visible to the owner. Onex bought out Husky for just under one billion dollars in 2007. Two years later, Onex sold Husky to Berkshire for more than two billion dollars and this year we are witnessing the take- over of Platinum Equity for nearly four billion dollars. What is your secret given the fact that the new owners are prepared to pay around twice the previous purchase price? John Galt: We have continuity in our approach. What works for us is listening to our customers, develop- ing solutions to their unmet needs and then delivering great products that operate with less waste and higher effectiveness. We invest in changes that take not only us, but the industry forward. First thing I learned is to listen and not talk. What are our customer looking for? What is the market looking for? Let’s try to give them what they want. PETplanet: In a PETplanet Insider interview back in 2010, you said that “ownership, leadership and strategy are aligned on where we are talking business”. Is that still the case? John Galt: Absolutely. It’s been that way for years. The alignment of these three principles has and will continue to be a winning formula for us. PETplanet: A large proportion of Platinum’s purchase price is based on future expectations. What can we expect from Husky in four years’ time? More sales of preform or clo- sure systems, the strengthening of other business areas such as hot runners and packaging, or com- pletely new commercial areas? John Galt: We see PET develop- ing within, but also beyond Bever- age Packaging to service the needs of new markets. We are looking for new potential applications, like food, personal care and home care. We will also continue to invest in Clo- sures, Packaging, Medical and Hot Runners. PETplanet: For many years, the preform machine business was clearly split between Canada and Switzerland. Over the past decade, we have seen many injection- moulding manufacturers come and go who wanted to gain a foothold in the preform sector by employing various strategies. Only our Italian colleagues with their considerable number of machines were able to achieve this, mainly because they can supply the preform machine and mould from a single source. How does Husky deal with this new market competition and do preform machine suppliers without moulds still have a future in the market in the long run? John Galt: Competition makes us stronger. It helps us to develop. It helps us to grow. Technology is the catalyst. We focus on how we can tailor our systems to the prod- uct. At the core of that strategy is our Tooling, Systems and Services. We believe in the value that can be generated by offering a complete, integrated system solution. Our abil- ity to innovate at this higher level is limitless. PETplanet: Sipa and Sacmi go one step further and tell you if you have the whole production chain from pellet to pallet in house, and by looking closely at all the infor- mation, optimal products can be produced at each stage. At AMC, Joachim Niewels showed us a KHS stretch-moulding machine and Krones filler. Is this heralding a long-term entry into the business of stretch-blowing machines and filling lines? John Galt: We learn from what our competitors are doing, but we have no plans to offer stretch blow machines or filling lines to the market. We focus on our customers, who produce preforms, either stan- dalone or in line with downstream technologies. The preform moulding stage must be done well in order to get a good final product. That being said, we may consider injection and blowing together for small volume production. PETplanet: A big step for Husky was the acquisition in 2011 of KTW, which meant it could dispense with its long-standing closed mould Tour Sponsors: