The companies will integrate Oystar’s Hamba Flexline filling machines with Sacmi blow moulding machines, as well as compression blow forming technology.
“Through this partnership with Sacmi we will be able to further enhance both our presence and performance in the beverage industry,” Oystar CEO Tom Graf. “At the same time we will be opening up new market opportunities to Sacmi through process integration when it comes to our successful aseptic filling machines.”
The first time the two suppliers are colloborating, Oystar's chief operating officer Markus Ehl told BeverageDaily.com that the immediate benefit of the deal for the sector was that "customers will be able to purchase one complete line combining proven and innovative products of two leading manufacturers."
He said that the focus of the new partnership will be on non-carbonated drinks such as juices and smoothies.
When asked what the beverage sector can expect from the integration of Sacmi components within the Oyster range, in particular compression blow moulding (CBM) technology, Ehl said:
"The combination of compression-blow-molding with inline-filling technology is still very rare in the industry which mainly uses rotary fillers. Inline-filling lines need less space per output and can achieve very high speeds."
Rethink strategy
Oystar, which recently set a target of recording annual growth of 10 per cent until 2015, said that the recession had spurred the company to rethink its strategy and change the way it operates.
The CEO, Tom Graf, remarked in May that: “We were in former times a typical German engineering company very much concentrating on what techniques we could offer to our customers instead of asking our customers what are your needs in your markets.”
Pietro Cassani , CEO of Italy headquartered Sacmi commented on the deal: “We will remain independent, but through this cooperation we will create genuine added value for our customers."
Compression moulding
Moraldo Masi, who head up the PET perform business at Sacmi, told this publication at the end of last year, that continuous compression moulding of beverage-bottle caps and other closures, poses a real challenge to the traditional injection moulding method.
At Brau Beviale 2010, he flagged up the lower cost, higher quality and productivity, and the potential for extended light weighting as the key benefits for novel approach to manufacturing preforms.
Leading beverage Tetra Pak recently partnered with the Imola based Sacmi on an easy-opening screw cap for its ‘game-changing’ new aseptic carton bottle, which it launched back in May.