Product category:
Manufacturing dealerships, agencies and acquisitions
News Release from: WLT
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 27 December 2004
UK packaging companies merge
In a merger that is the culmination of a 10-year alliance, WLT and Crusader Europe have formed Advanced Dynamics to achieve further market penetration for combined product ranges.
Two well-established UK packaging companies are combining their expertise to create a comprehensive single source labelling, handling and packaging equipment supplier In a merger that is the culmination of a 10-year alliance, WLT and Crusader Europe have formed Advanced Dynamics to achieve further market penetration for their combined product ranges
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 26 Nov 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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The new company will formally become operative from January 1 2005 and continue to operate from the current Bradford head office.
The two former companies had worked closely on many line projects to combine machines from their complementary product portfolios and respective ranges.
The managing directors of WLT and Crusader, Mike Essler and Malcolm Little, emphasised that they had identified further market opportunities.
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Customers that seek wider options available from a single source supplier could select a comprehensive equipment range to enable them to tailor their line designs to specific needs.
The merger would also enable customers to liaise with a single sales force and support engineers with a greater focused expertise for enhanced efficiency and response.
WLT had primarily focused on its long-standing distribution agreements for a variety of static control systems, greeting cards wrapping machines, feeders, film banding and overwrapping equipment.
Crusader specialised in bespoke labelling, checkweighing and product handling systems.
Advanced Dynamics will provide machines from KoRa-Packmat, ABG-Packmat and AL.MA, as well as Eurokett, Schafer Etiketten, and Tesab, along with Pelletron Granule Dedusting equipment.
Anti-static equipment and products also remain available via the former WLT's exclusive UK distribution rights for the Simco range of products.
The joint directors believe that Advanced Dynamics is well positioned to provide for the growing demand for static elimination, particularly for processes using web materials.
Their opinion is that web cleaning is now a sophisticated sector and the company's UK agency (formerly with WLT for 25years) for Simco's range firmly placed it as one of the UK leaders in static elimination.
Crusader also brings to Advanced Dynamics its exclusive distribution deal for rotary labelling systems manufactured by Cavagnino and Gatti in Italy.
Little commented: "We are especially proud of the extensive choice of labelling equipment ranging from entry level 'flash' labelling to in-mould and multi-head labelling systems, as well as the specifically-designed handling systems and custom-built turnkey end-of-line systems we offer." Labelling has been a particular strength of Crusader's with a wide variety of applications across diverse markets.
The company's research and development, which will continue to be the subject of significant investment, has devised a number of successful machines.
The newest of them is the Roll-Fed Stock Handling and labelling machine that is applying protective labels to secure PIN numbers for Barclaycard, MBNA and Marks and Spencer at leading security printers Paragon Group in the UK.
Another - the Eurokett Junior- has proved successful in labelling what are described as revolutionary egg-shaped packs for Cadbury Schweppes.
Little says that in addition to the systems installed at Cadbury Schweppes a number of other machines are creating significant levels of interest in the food and drink market, which shows great potential for Advanced Dynamics.
He continued: "In the food market we see significant opportunities for the range of AL.MA thermoforming machines.
They are suited to flexible and rigid materials, a range of sealing films and aluminium and food packs where post-thermic treatments, such as pasteurisation are important." Essler emphasised that the thermo-formed packs produced by the AL.MA machines supplied can be printed with inkjet or thermal transfer printers and the machines can be supplied with a photocell for print and pack registration.
They can also be equipped with weighing and dosing units, automatic feeders, coders, labelling units and vibrators.
In bottled drinks, the company sees great potential for its rotary labellers as supplied under the Cavagnino and Gatti distribution deal.
The equipment is suitable for wet glue and pressure sensitive applications and can apply a tax-strip to bottle necks, which could significantly interest spirits distillers if the Chancellor decides to move towards tax-strip tagging.
"The food and drink sector provides a good example of how Advanced Dynamics' service can benefit users through the flexibility we can provide through our broad product portfolio.
We can objectively approach customers' requirements, whilst our track record of successful installations and the scope and potential of all our equipment represents a powerful portfolio," said Little.
Another quickly developing market saw a major contract awarded by leading UK greetings cards producer Hallmark to Crusader that will transfer to Advanced Dynamics.
Hallmark has just launched newly packaged cards in Marks and Spencer using hanger packs labelled by four highly accurate top and base label applicator machines.
That deal followed an earlier contract to supply two TS9000s check weighers from the TESAB range that have been installed on lines producing packs of 24 cards and envelopes with total pack integrity, again for Marks and Spencer.
Amongst other growth markets for Advanced Dynamics is that for friction feeders where companies, particularly printing and packaging firms, are seeking after-print technology to cope with packaging many products - from pharmaceuticals to stationery.
Friction feeding is a tried and tested way of feeding stacks of products - credit cards, CD covers, greetings cards and envelopes, for instance - to the machine which prints or codes it and to the packaging machine which will wrap it.
Product security and appearance is another important issue - whether for the safety of credit cards, or to improve appearance.
There is a vast choice of machinery and equipment on the market but not all of it is designed to bring out the best in the printed matter it might have to handle, in Advanced Dynamics' opinion.
KoRa-Packmat's LB and LLC friction feeders, each designed to do a specific task, are arousing more and more interest for flat products.
The manufacturer's 35 years of know-how and product development leads Mr Essler to regard them as the best available.
Dynamic check weighing, radio frequency identity (RFID) tagging, product collation and batch control systems, are all sectors showing encouraging growth adds Mr Little.
"We believe in giving our customers the very best that is available.
They want the best technology, they want ease of use and they want flexibility.
We provide all of this and more because we pride ourselves on innovation and identifying the right manufacturer partnerships.
Our unwavering policy of working closely with customers enables us to tailor installations to more or less anything a customer wants," concluded Essler and Little.
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