PETpla.net Insider 07+08 / 2018

CAPS & CLOSURES 18 PET planet Insider Vol. 19 No. 07+08/18 www.petpla.net CAPS & CLOSURES 18 Corvaglia’s strategy for the American market Swiss closures in Newnan, GA by Kay Barton In February of this year, Swiss cap producer Corvaglia made a statement that caught the attention of the bottling industry: 2018 will see it open a new plant in the USA, serving the North American market and a strategic addition to its current location in Ixtlahuaca, Mexico. A few months before the plant’s official opening, scheduled for early November, we met James B. Fischer, the company’s new President and GM, to find out more about the project. Interview with Corvaglia Closures USA Inc. May 17, 2018 We met: Mr James B. Fisher, President & General Manager The new plant at Coweta Industrial Park in Newnan, Geor- gia is still a major construction site, so we met for the interview with Mr Fisher in his temporary office, not far from the future high-end loca- tion. Mr Fisher has now been with Corvaglia for a year and is able to look back on 30 years of experi- ence in the plastics industry. He got a call from Corvaglia one day and was on board more-or-less immediately. It is evident that he’s a positive thinker and doer, and someone who looks forward to everything that’s on the horizon. “We’re talking about a $25 mil- lion investment here,” Mr Fischer said. “The future site, covering approximately 9,300m², is cur- rently being equipped with com- pletely new injection moulding and digital printing equipment, and will also include expansion options for the future.” When the plant opens, its initial focus is set to be on one-piece, flat-cap closures. Over the medium term other standard models will be added, which will be particularly relevant to CSD or hot-fill prod- ucts. In addition to PCO 1881 or 38mm closures, the share of PCO 1810 in the local market, for exam- ple, is still relatively high. “The new plant will enable us to optimise our after-sales activi- ties, in addition to time-saving local manufacturing for custom- ers in the USA and Canada,” Mr Fisher added. “Between 40 and 50 employees are planned for the new plant, which will operate using highly automated technolo- gies.” There is a particularly strong market trend and focus in the USA on energy drinks and fruit juice. He explained: “The market for pack- aged water is also big, however, and is set to continue to grow in the future. Single serve also remains popular with American consumers, especially the small 8 oz bottles (approx. 0.23 l).” www.corvaglia.ch Tour Sponsors: James B. Fisher (left) with Kay Barton in front of the Editourmobil .com 100815dmyL