An Austrian mold maker is looking for a manufacturing location in North America.
Haidlmair GmbH of Nussbach, Austria, is looking to establish manufacturing operations in the region because it's what potential customers are asking for, Kurt Blechner, the company's North American sales representative, told Plastics News.
“Probably the biggest hurdle for us to sell tooling here is the fact that we're over in Europe, far away,” Blechner said. “The time difference, the exchange rate, freight and duty — those are all things I have to overcome with my customers in order to do business with them.”
Haidlmair is looking to partner with a North American mold maker, not purchase a company outright, Blechner added.
“We're just looking to partner with a company that thinks along the same lines — customer service, the ability to handle larger tooling” of up to 80,000 or 100,000 pounds, he said. The company has its eye on the Midwest because of its central location related to customers' plants.
Haidlmair specializes in injection molds for reusable packaging such as crates for beverage bottles, and also makes tools for items like recycling bins and automotive parts.