Cleveland — The floors of thermoforming plants are filled with too many old machines, according to market veteran Donald Kruschke.
"A majority of machines are old and there are too many of them," Kruschke said Oct. 26 at the Society of Plastics Engineers Thermoforming Conference in Cleveland. "Some of these machines are 35 years old or older. Imagine driving a car from 35 years ago."
Kruschke has an interest in replacing machines as president and CEO of Plastics Machinery Group, a supplier of new and used machines in Bedford Heights, Ohio. At the conference, he pointed out that new machines are more efficient than older ones because of improved hydraulics, motors and control panels.
Kruschke went through a list of 10 reasons to replace old machines. That list included faster cycle times, more parts per hour, higher-quality parts and less scrap. Faster setup time, less maintenance and reduced changeover time also were on the list.
"New machines can create substantial savings and more profit," Kruschke said.
In an August interview with Plastics News, Kruschke said that machinery demand started strong in the second half of 2023. PMG typically has about 40 pieces of used equipment in stock, but in August it had fewer than 10. PMG sells used thermoforming, blow molding, extrusion and recycling machinery, as well as new blow molding equipment for Meccanoplastica srl and thermoforming machines for Amut Group.
In the M&A market, PMG's Business Services unit brokered a deal earlier this year in which Global Packaging Development Inc. bought Integrated Thermoforming Systems Inc., a thermoformer based in Aurora, Ill. PMG did its first official deal as an M&A consultant in late 2022, when Duramax Holdings LLC of Charlotte, N.C., acquired thermoformer Forming Technologies LLC of Muskegon, Mich.
PMG had informally served as a consultant on around 10 deals since 1994. The firm hired financial veteran Darrin Kert late last year to make M&A work an official part of its business.
PMG employs 35 in Bedford Heights and is looking to add six to 10 more employees in both sales and production. The firm occupies an 80,000-square-foot building and 20,000 square feet in an adjacent building. When PMG acquires a piece of used machinery, it typically does six months of refurbishing work before reselling it.