Wittmann is aiming to boost its position in the European market for polymer blending equipment following the Austrian automation and ancillary maker’s purchase of Canada’s M-Tek this summer.
Manufacturing efficiencies at the Canadian plant together with the competitive exchange rate will enable the firm to achieve significant cost savings on its units in the future, it believes.
Although the company has offered blenders from another manufacturer in the past, UK managing director Barry Hill believes that access to an in-house source will be a significant benefit, completing the array of ancillary equipment within the Wittmann range.
“I’m very excited about the opportunity,” says Wellingborough-based Hill, who believes that Wittmann will be able to sell at prices of up to 20% cheaper than its competitors.
However, he stresses, this will not be at the expense of quality. “We are now able to offer customers the best possible technology for their polymer blending,” he says, adding that tests at Vienna HQ have confirmed the exceptional accuracy of the M-Tek equipment.
.“We will be able to further develop the blender range of equipment in line with bespoke UK customer needs. With our own blenders we can now offer a key manufacturing element and integrate it into a compete system using a single control platform.” In addition, the acquisition will provide openings in the extrusion sector for blenders, a sector which Wittmann has not highlighted hitherto.
