PETpla.net Insider 07+08 / 2018

MOULD MAKING PET planet Insider Vol. 19 No. 07+08/18 www.petpla.net 17 Expansion of services for German moulds and hotrunners in the USA Diverse markets offer new potential by Kay Barton Three years after our last visit, the PETplanet team returned to Peachtree City in Georgia, USA. In 2015 we travelled 50 km south-west of the city of Atlanta to visit the sales and ser- vice centre of MHT Mold & Hotrunner Technology, the German mould manufacturer from Hochheim, Germany. Back then, we talked about the importance of a local presence for North and South America (see PETplanet Insider 10/2015). As part of the new North Ameri- can Road Show, we wanted to find out what has happened over the past three years and how the marketing and business strategies of the company have developed further. Interview with MHT, USA, LLC May 15, 2018 We met: Mr Andreas Krampe, CEO Ms Patricia Ortega-Chagoyan, Busi- ness Administrator Mr Christopher D. Brown, Project & Sales Engineer CEO Andreas Krampe, chemical engineer, formerly of North Germany but now settled in as an Atlanta local, welcomed us into the office section of a building complex, where MHT USA and several other companies have their headquarters. MHT USA has been resident here since 2006, with a workshop and a spare part storage facility alongside its offices. The need for company representation in this pre- cise location was voiced by Western Container, the Coca-Cola packaging supplier and key client, who wanted to have an MHT contact person in their area. Service for the North American market was then later extended to include the South American market. Mr Krampe has been working here since 2010, with a break in 2015, while he went on a short excursion to an injection moulding system supplier. He returned to MHT after a year and a half away, with a clear vision: to establish a local “Centre of Excel- lence”, with customer service and technical know-how the top priorities. The company seems to be on the right path. As well as being able to deliver spare parts quickly, overnight, his current four-person service team can fully rework or repair moulds and hotrunners manufactured by MHT and by external manufacturers and can also carry out modifications for existing applications or install new ones. “We receive a mould here for reworking every four to six weeks,” Andreas Krampe said. “In addition, we work with various strategic part- ners, particularly in South America, whose injection moulding systems we can use for our moulds or prototypes. That brings us closer to our respec- tive customers.” He estimates that there are, currently, around 200 MHT moulds in operation in the American market. “If you compare customer behav- iour in the PET market in the past to the behaviour we see today, then the willingness to invest in other systems and moulds besides those which are well-known in North America is much higher than before,” he said. “The market has become very diverse and so offers much new potential. Along with providing a good service and fact-based solutions, we want to respond to this in a short period of time.” For the Centre of Excellence, Andreas Krampe plans to use additional members of staff and extra opportunities to be able to offer customers straightforward assistance with all problems that may arise. “We want to become THE con- sultant for PET for these markets,” he added. The company plans to increase MHT’s overall revenue from North and South America by a third, within the next two to three years. usa.mht-ag.com The Editourmobil at MHT USA with (f.r.t.l.) Christopher D. Brown, Patricia Ortega-Chagoyan, Andreas Krampe, Kay Barton and Heike Fischer Tour Sponsors: PETplanet in discussions with CEO Andreas Krampe MHT’s workshop