P.E.T.S. adds two industry veterans

Oles joined P.E.T.S. at its world headquarters in Auburn Hills, MI from PSG Plastic Service Group Inc., where he served as president and CEO for North America since 2007. Lang also joined P.E.T.S. from PSG Plastic Service Group, where he served as business development manager since 2010. Prior to that, Lang spent 23 years at Synventive Molding Solutions as business manager before leaving that company in 2009.
   
“We’re excited about adding Rich and Joe to our executive team,” said Bruce Casey, VP of global operations for P.E.T.S. “They are both plastics industry veterans and hot runner experts who bring strong business skills, global experience, a strong customer-service ethic, and a commitment to excellence in the work they do.”
   
Casey added that the new positions are a part of P.E.T.S.’ growth strategy to expand its customer base in certain areas, and that Oles and Lang have the experience and expertise needed to accomplish this.

P.E.T.S. (www.petsinc.net) is a global supplier of hot runner systems with manufacturing in the U.S., UK, and China. The company also recently opened a sales and service center in Saltillo, Mexico to serve its many customers in the booming automotive industry there.

“Mexico is a big region for us,” said Bruce Casey, adding that the company hired a former plant manager with a major Tier 1 automotive supplier to manage P.E.T.S.’ office there. “It’s working well for us, and the office is done and we’re stocking components there. We support the North American-based automotive OEMs that are running parts there and can offer real-time service to them.”
   
P.E.T.S developed and introduced the patented Even-Flow II, a round hot runner manifold machined from solid P-20 steel. Because of the unique, patented round design, the Even-Flow II doesn’t have the hot or cold spots to which conventional square hot runner systems are prone. “With 360-degree circumference heating, we have better control and provide greater uniformity of temperature. It’s a unique product in a not-so-unique market. This results in faster cycle time and quicker color changes for the molder.

While P.E.T.S. is known for its unique round manifolds, the company also builds conventional square manifolds, as well as other auxiliary products. “We’ve also introduced a new line of reduced-cost temperature controllers to help reduce manufacturing costs for our customers, and a new graphic user interface controller with valve gate sequencer all on one screen, rather than two units,” Casey explained.
 
P.E.T.S. also provides a high level of consulting services that include material flow analysis to ensure that all the manifolds the company designs work perfectly. The company has over 25 years of Moldflow experience and is a Gold Certified Moldflow Expert analysis company. Recently, P.E.T.S. added Moldex3D software to its analysis capabilities.

“We’ve made a huge investment in software and can do a thermal profile of a manifold system before it’s manufactured,” said Oles. “This gives us an expertise in troubleshooting to determine if the problem is a tooling or processing issue rather than a manifold problem. P.E.T.S. was the first company in North America to utilize mold filling analysis for the automotive industry. Today, we offer that service to all our customers.”

P.E.T.S. employs approximately 75 people globally, including 40 in Auburn Hills, and in addition to manufacturing hot runner systems also provides program and management consulting. The company works with OEMs and Tier 1-3 suppliers, which includes moldmakers.
     
P.E.T.S. was started with the goal of getting molders to manage materials the proper way—don’t burn it in the manifold system, and understand how to balance volumetrically the pressure in the manifold system. “We help people process molds and materials to make the best parts possible for all of the industries we serve. We’re one of the few suppliers that will guarantee our products,” said Casey. “If we do the complete Moldflow analysis and the manifold is the problem, we’ll take the responsibility of making it work to our customers’ expectations.”