DUSSELDORF, GERMANY - German thermoset injection molding machinery maker Fahr Bucher GmbH plans to become a leadingU.S. thermoplastic injection molding machinery supplier. In an Oct. 8 news conference at K'95 in Dusseldorf, Chief Executive Officer Hans Wobbe said he wants to double his company's sales in the next three years, and he has set his sights on the American market for high-speed packaging machinery as the way to do that.
Fahr Bucher reported 1994 sales of 50 million deutsche marks ($30.8 million). Wobbe claims his firm has 25-30 percent of the global market for thermoset injection molding machinery.
Even with the addition Aug. 1 of nearly $4 million in sales from the purchase of Battenfeld AG's machinery for compression presses, Wobbe said there is not enough growth in the thermoset markets to produce the doubling in sales he desires.
Now, the company has developed a line of high-speed injection molding machines, called SGA-S, for the packaging industry that can produce thin-walled food containers, caps, closures and electrical components at cycle speeds of 2-21/2 seconds.
The company exhibited its new thermoplastic injection molding machine at K'95 with a high-speed, in-mold labeling process developed by Peerless Technology Ltd. of Staffordshire, England. An Americanized version of the SGA-S machines, with wider tie bars, will be introduced by the second quarter of 1996, Wobbe said.
``The United States market is very, very, very important to us,'' Wobbe said.
``We are the new kids on the block,'' he added, saying he views Canada's Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd. as his company's competitor for high-speed packaging machinery.
He said he believes Fahr Bucher's novel clamping and hydraulic systems and its pricing will put it on a competitive footing with Husky.
The machine has a clamping system that is cantilevered to keep it separate from the hydraulics and injection unit, he said. Because of that, Wobbe said he believes the machine is well-suited for applications in climate-controlled clean rooms.
``You can install the machine so that the hydraulic system and the injection unit are in one room, and the clamping system is in another - the clean room,'' Wobbe said.
In that way, the heat and potential for dirt are restricted to an area outside the clean room, while molding is being done in a clean environment, he said.
The company sells its machinery through its subsidiary, Bucher Inc. of Buffalo Grove, Ill.
Separately, Fahr Bucher also exhibited its TS-160 thermoset press, which has a new control system and modular design.