Profi le | thin wall moulding
Horticultural plastics company Desch Plantpak has overhauled its UK operation with a £2m investment that includes energy-effi cient all-electric thin wall moulding equipment. Chris Smith reports
Investing for effi ciency
Management at Desch Plantpak’s horticultural plastics operation at Mundon in the UK describe the completion of a £2m investment in new manufacturing technology as a ‘rebirth’ for the business. That may seem a big claim, but the targeted campaign of plant improvement and equipment renewal has seen a manufacturing operation characterised by more than a decade of under-invest- ment not only lift productivity but set on course to become one of the most effi cient producers in its market. The 18-month investment programme included a
complete overhaul of the site’s injection moulding capabilities. The company scrapped 15 elderly hydraulic Netstal moulding machines and replaced them with four highly energy-effi cient all-electric models from BMB of Italy. It also updated its thermoforming capacity with new equipment from Turkish manufacturer Yeniyurt Makina, again using fully-electric drive, and updated its sheet extrusion line control and raw material testing capabilities. It was an investment that so nearly did not happen,
according to Jim Binch, managing director at US-based private equity company Lincolnshire Management. It has owned Netherlands-headquartered Desch Plantpak, which operates two manufacturing plants in the Nether- lands and two in the UK, since 2006 and its initial fi nancial assessment of the Mundon plant pointed to closure.
www.injectionworld.com “This company has not been the hallmark of British
manufacturing over the past 25 years. The UK business had undergone multiple owners and at least 15 years of investment neglect,” says Binch, who prior to joining Lincolnshire Management spent 15 years at the helm of US specialist medical component maker Memry Corporation then managed the investment group’s US horticultural products fi rm Summit Plastic. “The fi nancial people said ‘close it’. If the market
share had been 10% I would have said ‘yes’ but with a 50% share of the market? When you have that sort of market share, a customer base that is very loyal, and a product range that is different from the rest of Europe it makes sense to carry on,” he says. The UK horticultural plastics market is the third
largest in Europe and even in 2012, when Binch came to the UK to investigate reinvesting in the business, Desch Plantpak had a more than 70% share in thermoformed products and a near 30% share in injection moulding. The big obstacle to re-equipping the plant, says Binch, was the estimated £4.5m cost of replacing the ageing machinery with modern equipment such as used in the Netherlands facilities. The need to reduce that fi gure meant embarking on detailed
January/February 2015 | INJECTION WORLD 43
Main image: Desch Plantpak staff in the
newly equipped moulding shop at Mundon in the UK, where it produces horticultural
plastic products
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72