Kortec Inc., a supplier of PET preform coinjection systems, is partnering with equipment maker Arburg Inc. (Booth S1860) to provide a new preform injection press to the market.
Kortec, a young company poised for a major expansion, is working with Arburg to prepare a complete turnkey preform system to customers globally, said Kortec vice president of sales John Kermet at NPE 2003 (Booth N6352). Arburg will make the Kortec-specified, 150-ton presses at its plant in Lossburg, Germany, and ship them to Kortec's Massachusetts facility, he said.
Once there, Kortec will add coinjection technology to the machines, he said. The company also is working with Lee's Summit, Mo.-based R&D Tool and Engineering Ltd. (Booth E10427) to add its preform technology to molds made by R&D, Kermet said. Those R&D molds also will be shipped to Kortec for assembly and shipping.
The new Arburg coinjection presses will be used for those customers wanting to make a low- to midsized volume of PET bottles. Kortec has a similar agreement with injection press maker Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd. (Booth S1870) to distribute higher-tonnage coinjection machines for preform production, Kermet said.
The company is working with Husky to provide a 144-cavity co-injection system for multilayer preforms, Kermet said.
Kortec, founded in 1996, is preparing to make its second move to a larger facility. In December, the company will move to a 110,000-square-foot plant in Ipswich, Mass. The new facility is more than 2.5 times the size of its current location in Beverly, Mass., said Kortec vice president of operations Gloria Curley. The company is investing almost $14 million to buy the new building and equip it with eight manufacturing bays.
Currently, the company can work with only 2-3 customers at a time to provide turnkey equipment for preforms, Curley said. With the new facility, Kortec will be capable of working with many more customers, she said. The company will hire about 10 new employees, putting the total at about 50 people, after making the location shift.
The agreement with Arburg furthers the company's growth in smaller-size PET bottles, a market undergoing a significant upswing, Kermet said. Carbonated soft drink manufacturers are beginning to introduce multilayer PET bottles in smaller, 8-to-12-ounce sizes, he said.
