CHICAGO (June 28, 11:35 a.m. EDT) — Kortec Inc., which assembles and tests multilayer coinjection systems for PET preforms, is altering its business model. The firm now will assemble and test the lines at customers' sites.
Ipswich, Mass.-based Kortec puts together equipment packages used to make multilayer bottles for soda, juice, beer and other liquids, Raj Rao, managing director of Kortec Asia Ltd., said June 20 at NPE 2006 in Chicago. Customers no longer are demanding to see the equipment run before it is installed.
“When we first began, our initial system was 48 cavities,” he said. “Now we've successfully run machines with up to 144 cavities. We have proven our technology.”
Now, he said, customers want to speed delivery and save on freight costs. Skipping setup and testing at Kortec could shave four to six weeks from the delivery time. Customers also can spare the expense of sending employees to Massachusetts for training, instead doing all training on site.
Many of Kortec's customers are repeat buyers and do not need the same level of training they once did, said Miles Carey, sales director for Kortec Europe Ltd.
Customers already had been seeking direct delivery, with 75 percent of sales in the past 18 months going directly to final production sites.
Kortec also is reducing its costs and infrastructure requirements, since it no longer will need the 10 machine bays it had in Ipswich. Instead, the company will create a technology center.