While the big players of injection molding machinery like to tout the size and power of their equipment, Rambaldi + Co. IT is content with approaching the market in a different way.
The Molteno, Italy-based company, instead, wants to cater to a more niche market, one that is much smaller, both literally and figuratively.
Just the name of Rambaldi's line of injection molding machines — Babyplast — provides a clue about the size of the company's equipment. Hint: They are not big.
Rambaldi's benchtop machines, which can weigh around 200 kilograms, or 440 pounds, are designed to make the smallest of small plastic parts, often weighing just a small fraction of a gram. These precision parts are used in applications including health care, electronics and automotive.
Vittorio Terraneo, a company co-owner, was attracted to the microinjection molding machine market when he first saw a tiny machine about 30 years ago in Barcelona, Spain. He decided to invest not only because he liked the business opportunity but also he liked to visit Barcelona, he recalled.
Three decades later, Babyplast injection molding machines continue to be made in Barcelona before they are sent to Molteno for any needed finishing work before being shipped out to buyers.
A typical Babyplast machine can cost between €25,000 and €30,000 ($27,225 and $32,670), depending on the configuration. Their small size means multiple units can be located in one area, allowing a single employee to monitor production if needed.
Not only are Babyplast machines less expensive to buy, but also they have lower operating costs compared with their larger cousins. And molds, because of their small size, also are less expensive to purchase. They also allow for rapid tooling changes, the company said.
"Our thoughts go in the direction of having as accessible machines as possible," said Martin Carolan, who is involved with sales for the company. "Small-size machines to make a difference."
Carolan and Terraneo also touted the flexibility of Babyplast.
"It's important to have machines that can be used in different ways," Carolan said during an interview at the Fakuma trade show in Friedrichshafen, Germany.
"We have our customers with a number of machines. You have one person in a reduced space because the footprint [of the Babyplast machine] is very small. It's a meter square. So you can have one person checking the various molds," Carolan said.
"You can even have more Babyplasts making the same part. So if one cavity has a problem, you're taking out one small Babyplast mold, and the other machines continue producing the part. Instead of making a big mold with multicavities, if you have one problem with one Babyplast mold, with one cavity; you're checking a small bin of parts and not a big container of parts which are all rejected at the end of the day," he said.
Because of the nature of the Babyplast setup, machine owners are smart to rely on custom products with higher price points and stay away from commodity production. "If you're making packaging industry or low-cost parts, there's not much advantage," Carolan said.
Babyplast typically sells between 350 and 400 units each year. "Our machine is a niche in the market," he said.
Babyplast attracts attention because the machine allows processors to enter the injection molding business with a lower cost compared with traditional machines, Carolan said: "People come to us because of the low investment, the flexibility."
Being a niche player also means the company has to be receptive to new suggestions and requests from those customers. That openness as helped Babyplast expand over time.
"We grew with the customers. Their ideas helped us grow. As a company, we grow with our customers," Carolan said. "We're always helping our customers grow and are very flexible."
babyplast Christmann Kunststofftechnik GmbH
B3-3002