PETpla.net Insider 07+08 / 2019

PREFORM PRODUCTION PET planet Insider Vol. 19 No. 07+08/19 www.petpla.net 14 Investment in new preform moulding machines Flexibility is key Electra Form Industries (EFI) is a division of Wentworth Technologies, a global business focusing on tooling and processing for the plastics’ industry. EFI has been a provider of PET preform moulds for over 40 years operating out of their 65,000 square foot facility near Dayton, Ohio. Over the last decade, the business has transformed from PET tooling to preform production + tooling. With the growth of their moulding business, EFI bought new preform moulding machines. Rob Sicilia, VP PET Preforms, Niigon Machines and Brian Karns, General Manager, EFI in front of EFI’s Niigon preform machines “We now offer a more complete service for our customers” says Brian Karns, General Manager. “EFI specialises in preforms - capabilities include, unit cavity tooling and deliver- ing moulded preforms in as little as three weeks. In house tooling recuts allow multiple prototype weights within a couple of days enabling customers to review a number of options quickly to confirm optimum design for pro- duction”. EFI has two small tonnage injection machines for running proto- type preforms and an SBO1 to blow sample bottles in house Moulding preforms for their custom- ers has grown to be the largest part of EFI’s business. Flexibility is key to the operation with capabilities to run cus- tomer tooling, make and run new tool- ing (up to 72 cavities) and a program to handle lower volumes by installing stack components into an EFI 24 cavity mould base. “Many of our customers work in test markets or with niche applications where there is not sufficient business today to justify a new tooling invest- ment” says Max Buchanan, Senior Account manager. “We enable custom- ers to accelerate time to market with an affordable solution involving by convert- ing a 24 cavity cold half & EOAT”. With the growth of their moulding business, EFI bought new preform moulding machines. “We had three preform moulding machines in house, and last year we needed to add a 300 t machine” says Karns. “We chose Niigon, and we are so pleased with it that we just received our second Niigon and we have added one at the Wentworth Monarch plant in Oakville, Ontario. The Niigon machines are a great fit for our business because they are flexible and efficient. They run legacy tooling from any preform mould maker and we get fast cycles with very low energy consumption compared to competitive machines.” In addition, Karns also appreciates Niigon’s customer service and the five year machine warranty, and states: “A unique advantage is access to machine component information that allows us to buy parts directly from their suppliers without a markup”. Room for expansion EFI has room on their existing property to add an expansion that would contain up to six more preform systems to keep pace with customer demands. PET tool building capabilities allow EFI to offer flexible solutions to com- panies with blow / blow & fill opera- tions “As our customers grow their businesses, some will want to take their preform moulding in house” says Buchanan. “Working with Niigon, we can now offer a complete PET system that allows them to enjoy capacity management flexibility and optimise capital investment. We are very excited about this new opportunity to better serve our customers”. www.electraform.com www.niigonmachines.com