Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Plastics News China
  • Rubber & Plastics News
logo-pn-color
Subscribe
  • Login
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • End Markets
    • FYI Charts
    • LSR World
    • Multimedia
    • NPE2021
    • K Show
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • Special Reports
    • Top materials of injection molders
      Recycled PET use by product category
      US PET, flexible packaging desintations
      Global fluropolymers additives market: CAGR
    • Exhibitors back NPE cancellation: ‘We couldn't take that risk'
      NPE2021 canceled as in-person event
      NPE reviews its options as pandemic prompts exhibitor to exit
      Machine builders meet pressing needs for plastic in 2020
    • Sponsored By ENGEL Machinery
      Tailored maintenance for injection molding machines and robots
      Sponsored By ENGEL Machinery
      Improve maintenance efficiency with e-connect.monitor
      Sponsored By ENGEL Machinery
      Maximum precision for lowest shot weights
      Sponsored By ENGEL Machinery
      Even more cost effectiveness for small precision parts
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • What Keeps You Up At Night
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Videos
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • CEO Issue
    • Best Places to Work
    • Processor of the Year
    • Rising Stars
    • Women Breaking the Mold
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • Heavy Metal
    • One Good Resin
    • BRICS and Plastics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Watching, and hoping, for progress in 2021
      COVID-19 stories dominate 2020 headlines
      Plastic Globes ask: Was there a lighter side in 2020?
      Compounders write a business survival story in 2020
    • Kickstart: Unilever calls for 'living wage' pay in supply base
      Kickstart: Electric cars, recycling and warm mittens
      Kickstart: Welcome to the VUCA economy
      Let's get social
    • Heavy Metal: Coronavirus edition, plus the work of working from home
      Don't put off succession planning
      What's a good gift for your cobot? Batteries?
      Here's some big ideas to mull over the holidays
    • Chase expands giving campaign in 2020
      McDivitt will showcase Ascend's COVID-19 work on CNBC's Mad Money
      Move over, Plastic Man: Here comes Plastic Woman
      Star in spotlight with West Virginia philanthropy award
    • There was no choice but canceling NPE still a big deal
      The business case for producer responsibility
      Think divided government stalls plastics legislation? Think again
      ACC, NAM eye economic priorities in Biden presidency
    • Just how big is thermoforming in North America?
      Changing names for compounders embracing corporate branding
      Diversity the key to outperforming the market
      A timeline of the industry's COVID response
    • There was no choice but canceling NPE still a big deal
      Watching, and hoping, for progress in 2021
      The business case for producer responsibility
      Compounders write a business survival story in 2020
    • Perspective: Plastics manufacturers — a surprising contribution to sustainability
      Plastics industry business owners: Listen to your future workforce
      Perspective: ‘Fake news' of a different sort?
      Perspective: Making products in the USA is good for the planet
    • Modernizing recycling infrastructure will benefit businesses as well as the environment
      Mailbag: Oil-plastics connection is overstated
      Mailbag: Plastics recycling not cost-effective
      Mailbag: Price increases hurting North American PE buyers
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
    • Maintenance can ensure efficient blender operation
      Dosing: Perfect for adding color
      Blending vs dosing: What you need to know
      Going low or high: Comparing volume
    • Colors and custom compounds
      In the laboratory: Compounding solutions
      Recycling content: Resins going ‘green’
      Compounding: Glass and other fillers
    • Dryer maintenance: Don’t err with air
      Dryers: Options for a shop’s process
      Dryer installation: Going central?
      Resins: Hygroscopic or non-hygroscopic
    • Electric injection molding presses: Efficiency is key
      Hydraulic injection molding machines
      Proper maintenance can prevent downtime
      Hybrid injection molding machines
    • Purging Hot runners: Open or closed methods
      Purging extrusion machinery
      Purging extrusion blow molding machines
      Purging: Chemical, abrasive and non-abrasive
    • Controls, special applications boost production, profitability
      Robot maintenance key for smooth operation
      High-speed robots: A rapid way to increase efficiency
      Robots: Every shape and size
    • Maintenance: Key for efficiency
      Shredders: Plastic in pieces
      Safety first for size reduction
      Granulators: The right fit
    • Structural foam molding: Flexibility for processors
      Video: Structural foam molding
    • Mold inventory: How many molds does a shop have?
      Molds: Innovation
      Mold changeover: Saving time and money
      How molds work
    • Labor: Apprenticeships may provide answer
      Internships: Solving the skills gap in-house
      College training, programs
      Lean Six Sigma: Transforming business operation
  • Events
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Ask the Expert
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
    • 2020 Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
    • Polymer Points Live - February 2021
      Polymer Points Live - January 2021
      Polymer Points Live - December 2020
      Polymer Points Live - October 2020
    • Plastics in Healthcare 2020
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Plastics in Healthcare
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
  • Resin Prices
    • All Resins
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Rankings
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Data Store
  • Directory
  • More+
    • Classifieds
    • Digital Edition
    • Newsletters
    • Sponsored Content
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • White Papers
    • Sponsored By Mitsubishi
      Innovative new technology from Mitsubishi Engineering-Plastics Corporation helps reduce emission footprints
      Canon Virginia, Inc.
      Sponsored Content By Canon Virginia, Inc.
      Canon Virginia Inc. brings collaboration to the table
      Sponsored By CDS MACHINES
      Facing medical equipment shortages during COVID-19 outbreak?
      Sponsored Content By Canon Virginia, Inc.
      Transform your molding capabilities with the Canon Shuttle Mold System
    • Sponsored By Conexiom
      Use Sales Order Automation to free up time for CSRs to focus on customers, not manual entry
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
May 05, 2008 02:00 AM

Battenfeld buy leaves Wittmann unfazed

Bill Bregar
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Print

    The collective eyebrows of the plastics machinery industry were raised by the blockbuster news in mid-March that Wittmann Kunststoffgeräte GmbH, a robot and auxiliary equipment maker, would buy the Battenfeld injection molding press business.

    Wittmann has relationships with injection press companies as an auxiliary supplier. Now, executives wondered, why was Wittmann buying a struggling competitor, in a global market already flooded with too many presses?

    Asked about the chatter, Werner Wittmann responded with some dry humor. ``I'm actually very pleased with the reaction of all the machinery manufacturers, that they take so much worry about this. And I think it's a good sign because if we wouldn't be a major subject, then I would have made a big mistake purchasing it,'' he said. ``If nobody would talk, something is wrong.''

    Wittmann thinks he made the right decision to create what he calls the world's first company that can provide a fully integrated range of products for injection molding. His Vienna, Austria-based company bought the insolvent Battenfeld Kunststoffmaschinen GmbH of Kottingbrunn, Austria, on April 1. Terms were not disclosed.

    ``Of course, I analyzed the figures. I analyzed the situation of the products. I analyzed it from different points, including the technical standards of the machine. And clearly I'm convinced that it's a sound company,'' he said.

    The unassuming mechanical engineer, who founded Wittmann Kunststoffgeräte in 1976 and is its president, explained plans for Battenfeld during an April 19 interview at Chinaplas in Shanghai.

    Officials at some competing press makers suggest they will give the cold shoulder to Wittmann robots and auxiliaries. Werner Wittmann concedes that may happen.

    ``But I think that finally, it's always the customer who decides and not somebody else,'' he said.

    Wittmann added that his company often simply supplies a robot to injection press companies without any involvement in the entire project. ``So I cannot personally understand where there should be the big conflict for us now to have the molding machine, too,'' he said.

    He also pointed out that Wittmann Kunststoffgeräte has always grown by acquisition. The company started out as a maker of water-flow regulators for mold-chilling water, and mold-temperature controllers. In 1983, it bought a robot maker that was its agent in Germany. The move to a broad-line auxiliaries player came later, as Wittmann picked up the brands of Nucon, CMB, Capitol Temptrol to add materials-handling systems, granulators and chillers.

    Wittmann expanded around the world.

    Werner Wittmann said the challenge today is how to keep growing. Buying Battenfeld was one answer. ``Now we can really quote the complete package,'' he said. ``This is quite interesting, especially in markets like China, where you often are lacking a lot of good technical people when you set up your company. Then it's always good to have specifically one partner, one service team, one company where you can go and who solves your problem.''

    The Austrian company opened a factory in Kunshan, China, in 2005, after selling there for several years. At first, about 80 percent of Kunshan sales were to global companies with plants in China, with only a small amount of business from domestic companies. But now it's about 50-50. ``A big part of the growth comes now from the local companies, which is really due to all of our efforts to work hard with a local sales team in these markets,'' he said. In the background, robots quickly snapped back and forth in the Chinaplas booth.

    Wittmann's ownership of Battenfeld ends a rocky few years for the injection press company, which was one of the European pioneers of important technologies like gas-assisted molding, water-assist, all-electric machines and micromolding. Battenfeld also was an early supplier to target injection molded polycarbonate windows for cars, using its experience with big Battenfeld machines built in Meinerzhagen, Germany.

    In 2005, owner SMS GmbH closed Meinerzhagen, leaving the company with only Kottingbrunn, which only builds machines with up to 1,000 metric tonnes of clamping force. SMS officials regularly complained that Battenfeld was losing money. The following year, the German industrial conglomerate sold Battenfeld to German private equity firm Adcuram Industriekapital AG.

    Things got chaotic late last year, when Adcuram said it sold Battenfeld to another private equity company. Management of the machinery maker responded by saying the unexpected sale could close the company down. Battenfeld filed for insolvency Jan. 3, then Adcuram abruptly called off the sale.

    Battenfeld was kept on life support, thanks to loans from the Austrian government and several banks. Published reports in Austria said Battenfeld could have closed for good if no new owner had stepped in.

    Under Wittmann, Battenfeld now employs about 400 people in Kottingbrunn, down from 470 before the sale, plus another 150 at subsidiary operations.

    Having too many employees - some of them holdovers from the days of two Battenfeld press factories - was one of the company's major problems, according to Werner Wittmann.

    ``We can take it over with really reduced costs of these personnel,'' he said.

    He thinks closing Meinerzhagen was a mistake. ``This is also one of the reasons that Battenfeld finally had these problems,'' Wittmann said.

    The new ownership plans to fix that problem. Wittmann would give no solid timetable, but he wants Battenfeld to become a full-range player again.

    ``Let's say, medium-term, we are planning again to go back into this field. We have to, because there is quite some business which requires bigger machines, and then you also get their smaller ones. So I don't want to give that up,'' he said.

    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]

    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.

    logo-pn-color
    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 & Plastics News
    • Urethanes Technology
    • Plastics News China
    • European Rubber Journal
    • Tire Business
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2021. 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
        • What Keeps You Up At Night
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
        • Polymer Points Live
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • FYI Charts
        • Current FYI
      • LSR World
      • Multimedia
        • Videos
        • Galleries
        • Podcasts
      • NPE2021
      • K Show
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • Special Reports
        • CEO Issue
        • Best Places to Work
        • Processor of the Year
        • Rising Stars
        • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • Heavy Metal
      • One Good Resin
      • BRICS and Plastics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Plastics in Healthcare
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
      • Industry Events
      • Livestreams/Webinars
      • Ask the Expert
      • Polymer Points Live
      • Reifenhäuser Technologies Livestreams
      • 2020 Caps & Closures Library
      • Plastics in Healthcare Library
      • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
    • Resin Prices
      • All Resins
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Rankings
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Data Store
    • Directory
    • More+
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified
      • Digital Edition
      • Newsletters
      • Sponsored Content
      • Processor of the Year submissions
      • White Papers