Engel and Plastisud create joint venture for cap systems in China

Engel, the Austrian injection molding machine manufacturer, and French mold maker Plastisud have formed a joint venture for the production of sealing caps for water and soft drinks containers in China.

Plastisud and Engel will unveil this new concept, which they call Green Cap, at the Chinaplas 2012 trade fair (April 18-21; Shanghai).

At the Green Cap stand (F41 in hall W1), an all-electric Engel e-cap 3440/420 injection molding machine will make nearly 130,000 sealing caps per hour on a 96-cavity mold made by Plastisud, reaching a cycle time faster than 2.8 seconds.

The Green Cap line comes in 32- to 96-cavity molds, along with the machine clamping force of 200-420 tons, with an option for 500 tons.

The systems can save both cooling water and energy, the partners said. Other features of the production systems include robust and hardwearing components, high process reliability and maximum availability.

Green Cap will be based out of Engel's facility in Shanghai. In addition to its production plant, Engel also has three sales and service offices in China. Plastisud opened a new sales office in Shanghai about a year and a half ago.

Worldwide demand for caps and closures is expanding by around 5% per year, and China is the world's largest market in terms of volume, according to Engel. The world's most populous country imposes stringent requirements on packaging products and their manufacture such as reduced packaging weight and delivering performance with maximum energy efficiency. 

"The Chinese market is very demanding. Chinese customers request nothing but the best," stated Walter J. Jungwirth, director new business development at Engel, in the news release.

"Green Cap is the best way for us to address this trend. We are offering maximum output and quality while optimizing the cost structure for our customers."

The two partners analyzed the Chinese market and the demands of Chinese manufacturers in great detail, Engel stated. From day one, the aim was not only to deliver innovative technologies, but also to offer an economically viable solution to plastics processing companies in China.

 "By bringing two family owned market leaders together, we want to amalgamate a unique wealth of experience in plastic closure molding and highly efficient injection molding machines to provide the Chinese market with a simple but very efficient plastic cap solution," stated Jean-Luc Giraud, CEO of Plastisud, in the news release.