Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
January 02, 1995 01:00 AM

KRAUSS-MAFFEI NOW TARGETING CUSTOM MOLDING COMPANIES

Bill Bregar
Senior Staff Reporter
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    FLORENCE, KY. - Officials at Krauss-Maffei Corp. want to shed the company's image of selling injection molding machines only to specialty manufacturers such as compact disc, medical and automotive molders. The company will continue to serve those key markets, of course. But Krauss-Maffei has added a new target: custom injection molders.

    Selling machines to custom molders may not sound like a revolution, but it has changed how business is done in Florence, home of the U.S. unit of Krauss-Maffei AG. U.S. customers have perceived the German company as rigid - not the place to go for a deal.

    ``We're going to get as creative and as aggressive as other companies out there,'' said Michael J. Santa, executive vice president of the injection molding division.

    The goal is simple: Move more machines.

    ``What we decided to do is generate more volume in terms of units sold, and the best way of doing that is to focus on the market that buys the most volume, and that's the custom molding market,'' Santa said.

    The changes started in 1994. In the past, specialty molders accounted for about 80 percent of Krauss-Maffei injection presses, and only 20 percent came from custom molders. Now only about 35 percent of the company's business comes from specialty machines.

    Krauss-Maffei expected to sell more than 80 machines in 1994,with sales of $20 million. In a typical year, 55-65 of the Munich, Germany-made injection presses are shipped out of Florence. Clamping forces range from 40-4,400 tons.

    More custom molding sales helped boost unit volume, Santa said. But 1994 was a good year for specialty presses, including thermoset molding machines.

    In an November interview, Santa, a 12-year veteran of plastics machinery sales, outlined a four-point strategy for reaching custom molders:

    For quicker delivery, ship machines from inventory rather than order them from Germany.

    Work with outside lenders to set up creative financing pack-ages.

    Accept trade-ins from buyers of new machines, working with used-machinery dealers. In the past, companies had to get rid of their own used machines.

    Boost local service and support, with offices in Chicago and Oakdale, N.Y.

    Krauss-Maffei also has decided to stop using outside sales agencies and distributors.

    ``We're able to control our costs by taking a direct-distribution approach,'' Santa said.

    Also helping the German company are higher prices for Japanese machines thanks to the strong yen.

    And the German company enjoys greater buying power of machine components because of its size. Krauss-Maffei owns injection press makers Netstal-Maschinen AG of Switzerland and Billion SA of France. And Krauss itself is owned by Mannesmann AG, parent company of Mannesmann Demag AG, which owns German press maker Mannesmann Demag Kunststoff-technik and Van Dorn Demag Corp. of Strongsville, Ohio.

    The rapid globalization of the plastics machinery industry could mean U.S. manufacturing for Krauss-Maffei - someday. Company officials built the Florence facility in 1986 with an eye toward making injection presses there. Right now, the building is used to stock spare parts and presses shipped from Germany.

    The building is big enough - 105,000-square-feet - and is equipped with heavy-duty cranes. Technicians assemble about 30 percent of an average Krauss-Maffei extruder in Florence. They assemble the company's reaction injection molding machines sold domestically.

    Will injection molding ma-chines be next?

    ``Right now our plans call for evaluating that on an annual basis,'' he said, adding that it could happen in three to four years.

    ``As our unit volume goes up, and if it goes in accordance with our projections, we will reach a unit volume point at which it becomes financially feasible for us to do some assembly or, to some degree, some manufacturing here,'' he said.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Berry sees growing health care demand in India; new plant to open soon
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    OSHA: Worker died at plastics firm after duct tape covered safety guards
    2
    Tornadoes, severe weather impact Texas resin plants
    3
    Plastics firms work to eliminate PFAS use as pressure mounts
    4
    Material Insights: Nasty weather knocks some chemical plants offline
    5
    MAPP survey shows ‘struggling' plastics processing sector
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified