Guadalajara, Mexico — Canadian mold maker StackTeck Systems Ltd.'s sales in Latin American are on the rise.
“Latin America is a significant part of our business, 25 percent, and it's growing,” Vincent Travaglini, the Brampton, Ontario, company's vice president for sales and marketing, said in an interview at Expo Plásticos in Guadalajara.
“Our total sales in Latin America are $6 million to $10 million a year,” he added. Mexico is its biggest market in the region.
However, Travaglini said 2016 was a “slow year” for Latin America and everywhere across the region.
“The U.S. dollar went up. Whether people were buying machinery or resins, it was too expensive.”
The company is still waiting for Latin America to react in 2017, he said.
At Expo Plásticos, StackTeck featured its ultra-thin TRIM technology for single-serve cups. TRIM stands for thin recess injection molding.
According to the company, the money-saving TRIM technology applied to single-serve applications allows downstream printing in an area that can cover 75 percent of the part's sidewalls.
A four-cavity TRIM mold ran in the Arburg booth at the show.
According to the company, parts using the technology can be 30 to 40 percent lighter than conventional lightweight parts.
“We have [sold] six TRIM molds globally but not in Latin America so far.”
StackTeck, which employs 240, most of whom are located in Ontario, is 35 years old. It sells 100 to 150 mold projects per year globally, from single cavity to 128 cavities, according to Travaglini.
StackTeck has a sales office in Guadalajara, staffed by sales representatives Christopher Day and Blas Aguilar Gaxiola.
“Most of our servicing comes out of Ontario,” said Travaglini, who has headed the company's sales group for a year.
He said StackTeck is “thinking of setting up a service operation in Mexico.” Asked when the plan would become a reality, he replied: “It's just a matter of time.”