Joining the Plasticos family Plasticos Castella

JOINING THE PLASTICOS FAMILY

Plasticast Hungary has recently joined the Plasticos Castella family, and the strategic acquisition looks set to boost the fortunes of the company and deliver an enhanced service to its growing customer base across Europe. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to plant manager Ms Teresa Castella and project manager Gabor Vendegh to find out more.

AS one of the leading plastic injection moulding companies in Spain producing thin-wall plastic parts for the European food and beverage industry, family-owned Plasticos Castella is now run by the second generation of the Castella family. Following the careful analysis of potential partners in key locations in Europe, the company acquired the well-established injection moulding company Nypro Hungary, based in Nagyigmand just 60 kilometres west of the capital Budapest.

Ms Teresa Castella, the daughter of the founder, told Industry Europe how and why Nypro Hungary was chosen: “We were interested in Nypro Hungary as we had been carefully looking for local operations in Hungary, but ones which were fresh, innovative and had already built up a strong reputation for quality. We saw there was considerable room for growth, and we found that the personnel and the production values of the company perfectly matched our own.” Bigger and better

Nypro Hungary was acquired at the end of 2010, and the company is now called Plasticast Hungary, with all the employees being retained. Plasticast Hungary has been formed as a new joint venture company, which is 80 per cent owned by Plasticos Castella with the remaining 20 per cent still owned by Nypro.

Project manager Gabor Vendegh was keen to point out that being a part of the Plasticast Castella family has already

Newly installed production line for food packaging: Moulding machine, full automation, and high quality In Mould label decoration. A bird’s eye view of our molding facility.

A well-equipped toolroom for tool maintenance, with ultrasonic cleaning, laserwelding, CNC milling machine and EDM machine.

brought considerable benefits to the company, and continues to do so. He explained, “Plasticos is committed to continual investment and we have already seen the benefits of that in the upgrading of our already-impressive equipment to ensure that we truly offer the very best possible injection moulded plastic products. Our core activity will remain injection moulding, as this is where our particular expertise lies, but we will also be looking to build our company with new customers and new segments. We don’t see ourselves as just a trade injection moulder, but rather a solutions provider that specialises in injection moulding.”

This specialist approach means that Plasticast Hungary is fully committed to delivering its products on time, at the right quality and quantity. Mr Vendegh pointed out that this is a must in the food and beverage industry. “The impressive quality of products and customer service is certainly something which Plasticos Castella and Plasticast Hungary have in common. We work with some of the world’s leading names in the food and beverage sector, such as Procter & Gamble, Tetra Pak and Fleury Michon, and we produce billions of products a year, so our total guarantee on product quality and reliablility is of paramount importance to our continued success.”

Plasticast Hungary’s product portfolio includes plastic lids, screw caps, covers and containers in various different colours, sizes and materials, all of which can be decorated with in-mould labelling according to the

Newly installed production lines for food packaging: moulding machines, full automation, and vision system quality control.

customers’ demands. Primarily focused on the food, beverage and health care sectors, Plasticast Hungary uses the very latest in cutting-edge technology. The company’s continuing dedication to the ecological sustainability of its products is a very important topic, with an ongoing project to reduce emissions and investigate potential bioplastic solutions. The company is proud of its high level of automation which, in conjunction with its highly skilled workforce which is relatively low-cost compared with other European providers, consistently delivers a competitive service.

Excellent automation

In addition to the continual upgrading of equipment to ensure that this level of automation remains among the highest in the industry, Plasticast Hungary also works in a very clean environment, which is ISO 9001 2008 and FDA certified. Mr Vendegh added, “Our low-cost labour and high automation competencies makes us a very smart choice, particularly as we are a true solutions provider for plastic injection moulded products for the food, beverage and healthcare industries. We offer everything from the initial product requirement analysis to the R&D, the building tools, the automation and the logistics services. The support we have from Plasticos Castella and the joint venture with Nypro means that we have a solid infrastructure and sophisticated capabilities throughout the value chain.”

In order to continue with this positive upward trajectory, Plasticast Hungary is leading a number of innovative product developments, of which some will be introduced at this year’s Budatranspack trade exhibition in Budapest in November. The company also predicts considerable growth in and around both its parent company’s Spanish heartland and its Hungarian location, as well as utilising its good coverage across western, eastern and central Europe.

Ms Castella added, “We also see new segments joining our activities in North and South America and Asia, and we are actively looking for new acquisitions that suit our growth model. We are also making a strong commercial effort to open new possibilities with our current customers in new locations, and we are more than happy to follow them where they need our plastic packaging expertise. Our potential is excellent, so we are more than a little bit excited about the future of Plasticast.” n

www.plasticoscastella.com

Newly installed production lines for food packaging.