PET preform technology specialist SIPA has added refurbishing and conversion services to its total PET preform mould offering.
Italy-based SIPA is already a leading producer of original injection moulds for preforms, as well as stretch-blow moulds for the final container.
The company now offers customers the means to optimise production, either by refurbishing moulds (replacing some components with new ones, in order to improve preform quality) or, via mould conversion, replacing parts in order to produce a completely new, and quite often lighter, preform design.
“The advantage of mould conversion over buying a brand new mould lies in the lower capital investment involved,” SIPA says.
“The existing mould shoe is reused, and return of investment is faster.”
SIPA has also launched a 128-cavity preform mould incorporating its X-Mould technology.
X-Mould enables processors to fill wall sections that are thinner than ever before, so designers can create preforms that are longer or wider, for the creation of containers with more suitable stretch ratios.
“It is now possible, for example, to design a 500ml bottle preform weighing as little as 7.2g that presents no production issues, either in injection or in stretch-blow, with existing legacy equipment,” the company says.
