Wide-mouth PET containers spur Nissei ASB sales

Mexico City — As Eva Alzás showed the fourth generation of a Nissei ASB one-step injection stretch molding machine to attendees of Plastimagen 2017, she fielded a lot of questions and interest about its versatile range.

The Japanese machine maker's ASB-70DPH model can produce small-neck to wide-mouth containers in many shapes from many materials for food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical uses as well 5-gallon PET containers, which is becoming one of its most popular applications.

"That's the big boon in Mexico. They're used for water. We only sold six or seven machines last year, but this fiscal year, which started for us on Oct. 1, we have already sold three units. Demand is increasing a lot," said Alzás, the director general and managing director of Nissei ASB Centro America SA de CV in Mexico City.

The first female director for Nissei ASB Machine Co. Ltd., which was founded in 1978 and has about 1,700 employees, Alzás has been in the position for five years. On Oct. 1, the company also put Latin America, except Brazil, under her umbrella. Alzás said she earned the confidence of her boss and then the promotion.

She attributes the sales spike in the show floor model to two reasons: PET is displacing polycarbonate for water jugs because of bisphenol A concerns and cost. The PET products are 40 percent cheaper to produce.

The machine's versatility adds to its appeal, particularly for wide-mouth containers as consumers switch more to bulk goods, Alzás said.

"Nowadays because of prices, families are buying bigger containers" to save money on grocery bills, she explained.

Wide-mouth containers are easier to produce in one step as opposed to two because the finished product is created directly from the raw material in one compact machine. The preforms are simpler to handle and that reduces problems like breaks.

The fourth version of the machine also is more energy-efficient and has faster cycle times, the company says.

Since Alzás was promoted in 2012 to director of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, she said annual sales in the region have increased 300 percent to almost $20 million. She has high expectations for Latin America, too.

Alzás said her team, which now includes three female engineers, including herself, shines for several reasons compared to previous Japanese directors.

"Latin society needs to have close relationships," she said. "When my company put me here, the relationship was much easier and the confidence of customers in the company increased. Also, I'm an engineer but I do the marketing and business administration, so my mind is technical yet focused on marketing. That combination, I think, is one of the key points. And I have an excellent team."

Alzás said she and her staff are determined to treat all customers the same regardless of size.

"We dedicate time to all customers — small, medium and big — and have broken from the tendency of focusing on large multinationals. We just work hard," she said.

Alzás plans to do the same in Latin America, where she sees "huge" opportunities.

"My plan is to repeat this system. Have a good team, be close to customers, follow projects and visit," she said. "We have great technology, but we need more presence, marketing and sensitivity."