CHICAGO (July 28, 5:15 p.m. EDT) — Responding to the growing awareness of waste reduction by processors, Munchy Ltd. has introduced a machine it says can do the work of two for the price of one.
The Munchy K100 was introduced at NPE 2000 by the Wallingford, England-based producer of recycling machinery.
Managing Director Bob Hawkins said the K100 was designed to meet changing needs of processors that want to reprocess and re-incorporate as much production waste as possible as quickly as possible — and as economically feasible as possible.
"We have to change to develop machines to meet those needs: Price-performance ratio is becoming very important," Hawkins said. "What we´ve done to respond to that is produce this new machine that produces double the previous model, but within the same price range."
The machine is so-named because it originally was designed to reprocess 100 kilograms of material per hour. Hawkins said it is actually capable of processing 70-250 pounds of material per hour.
Munchy mainly targets manufacturers of diaper film, nonwovens, fibers, and milk and juice containers.
With sales, demonstration and service offices in Vernon, Conn., Hawkins said the company is discussing plans to build a U.S. manufacturing base.
"The decision has been made to do it. The where and who with is a decision to follow," he said.
Hawkins said much is to be gained from manufacturing in North America. Not only has the North American Free Trade Agreement opened doors to overseas companies looking to expand on this side of the world, but international manufacturers can learn a little something from Americans´ expectations of customer service.
"Many European companies fail to recognize the need to give service and support," he said.
"More and more customers are making requests and they´re becoming more and more specific," Hawkins said. "We would finish our machines in the customer´s colors if necessary."
Hawkins took over as managing director of Munchy when he bought out the 20-year-old company in 1992. Since then, he said, the company sells an average of 100 machines per year — ranging in output from 50-2,500 pounds per hour.
Munchy exports reprocessing systems to more than 60 countries. The company reported annual global sales of $8 million.