Compact Mould buys Abramo Compact, expands R&D centre

Woodbridge, Ont.-based blow mold manufacturer Compact Mould Ltd. has purchased all of the assets of Abramo Compact Injection Blow Molds Inc., as well as expanded its own research and development (R&D) centre.

Abramo Compact’s plant in Brampton, Ont. had previously been a joint venture between Compact Mould Ltd. and two other partners. The plant manufactures injection stretch blow molds and injection blow molds, as well as stock mold parts for the company’s in-house use.

Compact Mould’s R&D centre, meanwhile, has also been expanded. Located in the same industrial park as the Abramo Compact facility, the centre opened in March 2006 with one Heins 2000S extrusion blow molding machine. Three more systems have now been added: a Nissei ASB 50 for injection stretch blow molding, a SIDE TMS 1002E for stretch blow molding, plus a Jomar 85 for injection blow molding. Another Compact Mould plant, in Woodbridge, manufactures extrusion blow molds.

“We want to make our customers happy by making their job easier,” Henry Foppoli, a project manager at Compact Mould, said. “When they test molds at our R&D centre, they don’t have to stop production and incur manpower hours to set up the machine. They can test new molds with different parts, like different types of necks or bottom inserts. In turn, this gives us more processing knowledge so we can help our customers if they want to try an existing preform with different bottle geometry, new cavity shape or different resin.”

Compact Mould has seen higher growth in injection stretch blow molds than in extrusion blow molds or injection blow molds, the company said. In keeping with the business philosophy of providing customers “one-stop, full scope, hands-on service” no matter which blow molding process is used, the company plans to continue to be a leading value supplier.