PETpla.net Insider 11 / 2020

CAPS & CLOSURES 40 PETplanet Insider Vol. 21 No. 11/20 www.petpla.net Interview with Michael Krueger, CEO, Corvaglia at the site of Corvaglia, Eschlikon PETplanet: You operate two CAPrint units in Switzerland and one in the USA. Is yours the showroom for the good people of Brügg? Krueger: Oh, good grief, no, despite it being close nearby! In our Swiss plant we have not manufactured a lot of printed caps until maybe 3 years ago. Before that we had focused on plain flat caps without any printing and sports caps in this location. Having agreed a targeted strategy to achieve significant growth in the caps market, we have done an assessment of print- ing technologies to evaluate which tech- nology will help us better to achieve our growth plans. (Interview with Michael Krueger discussing the cap business, see p. 36) PETplanet: Why then a new tech- nology system such as CAPrint rather than a commercially successful model that has been around for decades, such as pad printing? Krueger: We knew very well the pros and cons of ‘conventional’ cap printing technologies from our Mexi- can cap production site, where we manufacture printed caps since about 15 years. In Switzerland we have automated our entire cap production process which allows us to produce significantly more caps without increas- ing the number of employees on the shop floor. This is a MUST do in such a high wage country like Switzerland in order to ensure our competitiveness in the market. We could not afford a pad printing or offset system that typically require more manual interaction during operation. PETplanet: Does that mean that automated production was a major factor in your investment decision? Krueger: Unlike other users of the technology that might use digital print- ing predominantly for special images, we are also printing classic motifs that would also have been possible using other systems. Here we have an exam- ple of a pure white image on a cap without any gradations or even multi- colours. So, yes, the ability to operate the printing technology in our auto- mated production environment indeed was a major factor in our investment decision. However, we see the flexibility and quality that comes with this new technology as an additional benefit for sure. PETplanet: Has the new technol- ogy met your expectations? Krueger: There is always a risk that unexpected issues may arise when you walk new paths. But it is the only way to succeed to embrace the unexpected and solve the problems. The same was true here when we used a new technol- ogy as a workhorse in a high output 24/7 production. There were some initial problems, of course. But CAPrint did everything they could to solve the issues with an outstanding effort. We are still sure we have taken the right decision by investing in digital printing. www.corvaglia.com www.ngr-world.com The next dimension of PET recycling. Fully iV-controllable and 100% food-safe. It will not only satisfy, but also inspire. MEMBER OF NEXT GENERATION GROUP :REACT LIQUID STATE POLYCONDENSATION (LSP by NGR) PET in – Future out