While it can be difficult to pinpoint the No. 1 trend in the plastics industry, Wittmann Battenfeld believes that 'one-stop shopping' is at the top of the list.  

"One-stop shopping is the number one trend in the plastics industry," Sonny Morneault, Wittmann Battenfeld's National Sales Manager, told PlasticsToday. "Wittmann Battenfeld is the leader in this concept and it continues to drive large multi-line (complete cells) orders. Customers value working with a single supplier that takes responsibility for all aspects of the complete production cell: machine, robot, automation and auxiliaries."

The new addition with molding cells on the plant floor. Wittmann Battenfeld USA recently held an open house at the company's expanded Torrington, CT headquarters. The open house, which saw more than 200 visitors, featured nine operating injection molding work cells on display. During the event, the company officially opened its new 20,000 sq-ft addition that has expanded Wittmann Battenfeld's existing Torrington facility to 90,000 sq-ft. More than $3 million was invested in the new facility to expand the company's U.S. capabilities, including the ability to both accommodate the larger injection molding machines from the company's MacroPower series and to commission even more turnkey lines with machines, automation systems and auxiliary equipment.

"We saw the increase in demand for molding machines and stock is king," Morneault said. "This extra space gives us the room to meet customer demands for quick delivery, saving time from having to assemble and ship the machines from Europe (Wittmann Battenfeld's global HQ are in Austria). We also needed the ability to make simple modification to machines, integrate auxiliaries and run mold trials and automation run-offs."

Morneault said that the company continues to show its commitment to the U.S. market by its investments, building expansion and technology advancements. In addition, the company has invested more than $1 million in salaries and benefits in the past year on new employees in the U.S. alone, and continues to hire.

Here are some other key takeaways from the interview:

On injection molding machine demand in North America: Demand for molding machines has been consistent since the beginning of last year. We have seen a big growth in niche markets like vertical and micromolding. I think the demand is being largely driven by automotive.

Extrusion market: We have always been supplying the extrusion market but our focus now is more on downstream equipment staying with the 'one-stop shopping' concept that gives us a competitive edge. We have seen our extrusion business really grow beyond our expectations and it continues to be a great market for us.

Reshoring: Yes, many of our clients are telling us they are getting back work that they had lost to Asia. Much of it is being driven by technology advances and automation, which is making manufacturing more affordable here in the states.

NPE 2015: We opted for the largest booth we've ever had, which allows us to show our clients not only our entire product line, but why their best choice for plastics processing equipment is Wittmann Battenfeld (molding technology, robots & automation, and material handling - extrusion as well.)