Plastics News - Show Daily - October 21, 2022 - 12

12 * Plastics News, October 21, 2022
SHOW DAILY
GDK buys Uniloy's Czech
factory, expands lineup
By Steve Toloken
Plastics News Staff
Fresh off buying the shuttered
Czech Republic factory
of Uniloy Inc., small blow molding
machinery maker GDK spol
s.r.o. is looking for bigger things
from K 2022.
The company, which is headquartered
in the Czech Republic,
is using the former plant of
its U.S. competitor Uniloy to expand
its product range.
CEO Petr Kusa said GDK's parent
company, the Czech industrial
conglomerate Koh-I-Noor
Machinery Group, bought the
Uniloy plant in Policka in 2020
and uses it for GDK and for
other business units that build
both blow molds and injection
molds, as well as to injection
mold plastic products.
Kusa said the new facility will
help GDK with manufacturing
larger machine ranges that it's
introducing at K.
One of the new machines is its
GM20k line, an all-electric, shuttle
extrusion blow molding line
that can be used to make 20-liter
jerrycans in a 40-second
cycle time. The
company is pushing
the lower energy
costs of the fully
electric machine.
" Low consumption
of electricity is very
important, during
the energy crisis, " Kusa said.
" Your energy costs are four
times higher than last year ...
because of the [Ukraine] war. "
The GM20k line can make 180
20-liter jerrycans an hour with
an energy consumption of 65
kilowatts per hour. It comes in
both single and double station
models with a clamping force
of 240 kN, with a 700-millimeter
shuttle stroke.
Join us in the BeOne World
of Sustainable Innovation
Experience the
Difference
Hall 14 A16/A18
The company sees the economic
disruption from rising energy
costs as an opportunity to
market its all-electric machines.
" Our customers are very much
affected, " Kusa said. " They are
looking for new solutions, effi
cient solutions with low consumption
of energy. I feel it's a
good opportunity for us. "
He said many of their customers
with hydraulic machines are wondering
if it makes sense for them
to continue operating those lines.
The biggest direct economic
impact on GDK now is from
strained supply chains, particularly
from electronic components,
that are making delivery
times longer, he said.
" A normal delivery time in the
past was three or six months,
depending on the machine
size, " Kusa said. " Now, delivery
time can be one year. "
The small company employs
about 30 people and manufactures
20 to 25 blow molding machines
a year, with annual sales
of about €4.5 million. It started
making all-electrics in 2007.
GDK has added eight employees
in the past year, as it has
ramped up production in its
new plant in Policka.
The new factory lets it expand
Our customers are very much
affected. They are looking for new
solutions, effi cient solutions with low
consumption of energy. I feel it's a good
opportunity for us. "
Petr Kusa
GDK spol s.r.o.
GDK SPOL S.R.O.
Hall 14,
Booth C04
A normal delivery time in
the past was three or six
months, depending on the machine
size. Now, delivery time can be
one year. "
Petr Kusa
GDK spol s.r.o.
its machine range from production
lines capable of making 10-liter
containers previously to 30-liter
containers now, Kusa said.
" We wanted to serve a larger
market, " he said. " It's a quite
big step. "
The Policka factory was previously
owned by U.S. equipment
maker Uniloy Inc. but was
closed as that company was
spun off from its former parent
company Milacron Holding
Corp. in 2019.
" Our mother company bought
the facility and now we are building
machines there, " Kusa said.
Besides machinery, GDK's
company
parent
Koh-I-Noor
also manufactures injection and
blow molds and, according to
its website, has a division with
30 injection molding machines
for manufacturing products.
GDK, which is based in the
small village of Kolová, started
in 1992. It became part of Koh-INoor
in 2020.
At K, it's not exhibiting the
GM20k model because it's too
large for its booth, but GDK is
showing a smaller machine, its
GM751.X line, that will make
half-liter clear polypropylene
sport bottles.
GDK spol s.r.o. CEO Petr Kusa says the company's acquisition of Uniloy plant in the Czech Republic will
help GDK with manufacturing larger machine ranges that it's introducing at K.
Plastics News photo by Marco Stepniak

http://www.jumbosteel-tw.com

Plastics News - Show Daily - October 21, 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Plastics News - Show Daily - October 21, 2022