Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable?

Is in-House Blow MouldingViable? Robin Enderby BMC Controls Ltd PLASTIC BOTTLES 2005 IMPROVING VALUE, FUNCTION AND PERFORMANCE 15-17 February 2005, Renaissance Hotel, Düsseldorf, Germany Organised by Applied Market Information Ltd

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? • Definition of “In-house” : A company that moulds their own bottles to fill with their own product

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? • Purpose of this paper: 1. To give prospective “in housers” more information to make the best decision for their circumstances

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? • Purpose of this paper: 2. To help existing “in housers” review the ongoing feasibility of their moulding operation

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? • Purpose of this paper: 3. To help “trade moulders” advise potential “in housers” make the best decision

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? • Why does any company want to go in-house in the first place? • Because they think that the investment will yield significant savings

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? • The viability of blow moulding, like any manufacturing process, is largely dependent on there being sufficient volume to justify the investment.

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable?

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? • Costing figures are often based on 90% machine utilisation – a figure that is very hard to achieve by even some of the best companies

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? • Support is very important • “You sold me this car so I expect you to teach me how to drive it, how to maintain it, and how to change the engine when I want to.

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? • Companies new to blow moulding should never buy a used machine, no matter how good the dealer says it is.

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? Essential equipment • Blow Moulding machine • Mould, die tooling, blow pin, and de-flash tooling for every bottle • Granulator • Scrap conveyor

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? Essential equipment • Hopper loader/ mixer • Bins to hold regrind • Raw material storage bins • Conveyors

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? Optional equipment • Bottle packing machine • Leak tester

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? Storage • Boxes to store bottles in • Somewhere to put all the boxes • Fork lift truck • Pallet trolley • Strong racking for mould storage • Bulk silo for material storage?

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? Services • Chiller/Piping • Compressor/Piping • Compressed air drier • Compressed air chiller

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? • Serious amount of electrical power

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? • People • Training • Workshop facilities for die cleaning/general maintenance

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? Q.C. Equipment • Accurate weigh scales near the machine • More accurate weigh scales in QC room • Top load strength tester/height gauge

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? • Torque tester • Colour matching instrument • Wall thickness measuring device • Thread gauges

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? Finishing Equipment • Flame treatment for print preparation • Sleeving machine / printing equipment • Labelling machine

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? • Spare parts for all the above

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? • Polyethylene • Masterbatch

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? • Start by producing “Core Products” (The long run products) • This might create problems with suppliers of remaining products

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? Problems • Reduced quality • Unforeseen costs • Efficiency less that expected

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? Problems • Shortage of skilled personnel • Technology becomes dated/obsolete • Raw material availability and price

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? Problems • Vulnerability to market demand

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? “Getting out” of In-House blow moulding • Various solutions to be considered: • Find ‘hole in the wall partner’ • Sell machines and ‘contract to supply’ back to the trade. • Contract-out all manufacturing

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? Who got out? • A.E. Adams, Alida-Gibbs, Bowater, Body Shop, Bissell,Colgate-Palmolive, Century Oils, Cheeseborough-Ponds, Diversified Products, Deb Chemicals, Domestic Liquids, GW Chemicals, Morrises Oil, Jeyes, Lanstar Coatings, Turtle Wax Johnsons Wax, Lyons, Thermos, Chad Valley, Rollo, Palitoy, Nicol, Key Terrain, • Numerous dairies

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? Who’s in-house? • Alberto Culver Boots • Comma Oil Constance Carol • Ricoh Reckitt Sanmex • Supreme Salt Talbot Chemicals

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? Conclusions • To be viable there must be sufficient quantities of containers required to run a multi-machine plant virtually 24/7/12/365 • Never underestimate the investment required, or the ongoing investment to keep the operation viable

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? • Remember the words of a Unilever manager: • “We can buy bottles in the UK, with the quality we expect, at a price we’re prepared to pay, delivered when we need them”

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable? Thank you for your time and patience. Robin Enderby BMC Controls Ltd. Manufacturers of container leak testers, bottle handing automation. Agents for Moog Servovalves and Control Systems

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable?

Is in-House Blow Moulding Viable?

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