PETpla.net Insider 10 / 2019

BOTTLE MAKING 28 PET planet Insider Vol. 20 No. 10/19 www.petpla.net German technology with Indian engineering artistry Blow moulding machines for medium-scale outputs by Kay Barton The neighborhoods of Waliv, 40 km north of Mumbai, is home to Global PET Industries Pvt. Ltd., a manufacturer of semi- and fully automatic blow moulding machines. It has been building systems for beverage bottling businesses in the small- and medium-sized perfor- mance segment, as well as for food and non-food packaging businesses, for 20 years. The family-operated company also operates Dynamic PET Mould, a wholly-owned subsidi- ary, as a separate division. It designs custom and bespoke blow moulds according to cus- tomer requirements, for both Global PET and third-party operators. March 2019 We met: Jugal Panchal, Head of Business Development, Global PET Industries Bipin Panchal, Managing Director, Global PET Industries Milan G. Kotadia, Partner, Dynamic PET Mould A hydraulic elevator took me directly to Global PET’s reception area, where I was greeted by the sight of copies of PETplanet magazine on display. Head Business Development Jugal Panchal, relaxed in his air-con- ditioned office on a typically baking hot Indian day, showed me a range of PET bottles that have been manufac- tured using his systems. Also in the office was his uncle, Director Bipin Panchal, who founded and estab- lished the company in 1996. Initially, it constructed only semi-automatic blow moulding machines. “Our first machines manufactured 600bph. We reached 1,000bph in the early 2000s, and then 2,000bph followed,” he explained. “We subse- quently brought our fully automatic machines onto the market, first with two cavities and then with four. This enabled us to make 5,600bph. Our next step was the fully electric servo- controlled blow moulding machines, with capacities of 6,000-9,000 bottles.” Global PET constructs approxi- mately 150 semi-automatic and 36 fully automatic systems per year. The demand for cost-effective systems has increased steadily, so the newer models of semi-automatic systems respond appropriately. “A key attribute of our systems is the components that we install,” Mr Jugal continued. They use components from Festo and Schneider. “Quite simply, we believe in German technology and durability”. In addition to customers in India, Global PET sells 30-40% of its products to African countries and 10% to Gulf states, and its equipment is also to be found in Nepal and Bhutan. Its Indian customers include Bisleri, Parle Agro, Sab Miller (Foster’s) Group, Xotik Bev., Sunpet, Hamilton and the ITC Vendor. Around 60% of its machines are used in beverages and liquid food packaging; food items (such as cans) account for 25-30%, and non-food products for approximately 5%. Water bottlers form the largest proportion of beverage bottle converters, followed by producers of CSD and fruit juice. Edible oil is an increasingly important market with innovation of online as well as offline handle type jars as a competitive replacement for HDPE containers in the 2-3l segment. In 2019, the company has forecast that its combined turnover will be approximately US$4.8 million. Blow mould manufacturing We visited Dynamic PET Mould’s premises, which are just a short walk away from Global PET. It manufac- tures blow moulds on seven CNC machines supplied by Californian Tour Sponsors: Head Business Development, Jugal Panchal in his office Bottles produced on Dynamic PET Mould equipment