PETpla.net Insider 04 / 2018

PREFORM PRODUCTION PET planet Insider Vol. 19 No. 04/18 www.petpla.net 22 PET processing on high-quality equipment from Europe Wherever possible, get ahead; make the competition follow by Kay Barton Precision Plastics has two plants in Thailand. The first that we visited is located around one-and-a-half hours’ drive north of Bangkok, close to the historic city of Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, the former capital of the Kingdom of Siam. The company has been manufactur- ing PET preforms, bottles and closures since 2001 but its story actually began another two hours’ drive further north, in Nakhon Sawan, where its original site is still located. Precision Plastic has relied on innovative technologies and high-quality equipment from Europe, right from the day it entered the PET processing market, and it still does so today. Precision Plastic Co., Ltd., June 24, 2017 We met: Mr Somsak Sutharoskajornchai, President Mr Komsorn Vipudhamorn, Plant Manager Ms Jidapha Sutharoskajornchai When Precision Plastic was founded, in 1990, it specialised in the manufacture of HDPE bottles. “With our entry into the PET busi- ness at our plant in Nakhon Sawan, wonderful opportunities opened up for us”, said company owner and Presi- dent Mr Somsak Sutharoskajornchai. Plant Manager Komsorn Vipudhamorn pointed to the building and explained: “We built this new site here in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya in 2011, in order to expand our capacity. Regrettably, in the same year, we were hit by the flood dis- aster and the new plant was flooded on the ground floor.” This had to be cleared up before any further work could be done. Total production area here now extends to around 40,000m 2 ; the origi- nal factory is about half this area but both sites employ 250 employees, in two-shift operation. Total investment across the two sites amounts to almost US$ 60 million. As well as its two main sites, Precision Plastics operates a number of smaller, in-house production departments at bottlers. Total revenues for 2016 were just under US$ 59 million. “We have always tried to be innova- tive and to supply a certain quality”, said Mr Somsak. “We were probably the first in the market to, for example, produce a one-piece closure for hot-fill applica- tions.” Before we could enter Production we had to change and have an air shower. One of the customers is Ichi- tan, the RTD tea manufacturer, whose aseptic closures were coming off the production line as we arrived. The storage area is gigantic, and pretty much full. The company produces over-whelmingly for local demand; only 6% is exported, and mostly to customers in neighbouring countries, such as the Lao Brewery in Laos, who we also visited and whose senior management we interviewed. Precision Plastics buys material mostly from Indorama and Shinkong. Ninety per cent of its preforms are produced in MHT moulds; the remain- ing 10% are made in GDXL, among others. A brand new Netstal PET line was delivered just three weeks before our visit, during which we saw Krauss Maffei and MHT service employees engrossed with the test run of the new system. Tour Sponsors: Welcoming the Editourmobil and PETplanet editor Kay Barton (right): Somsak Sutharoskajornchai with his wife Jidapha Precision Plastics’ President Somsak Sutharoskajornchai