Otto Hofstetter AG offers its customers various services intended to ensure the productivity of their injection moulds. The exchange programme for hot runners – OH-XChange ® has been a part of this for years. Unique in the industry, the concept provides numerous valuable advantages.

With Second Life, we provide a platform on our website where moulds that are no longer needed can be offered for sale. Once a potential buyer is found, we make sure the mould is in great shape and make any necessary adjustments. The mould is then launched into its second life, sealed with a guarantee from us. Second Life offers benefits for first and second owners, and the moulds’ improved ecobalance helps to protect the environment.

HAWITA technoplant is one of the leading producers of plastic plant containers. The company in Vechta (Germany) develops and produces articles for professional and private gardeners and has been counting on moulds from Otto Hofstetter AG for the last 20 years. Factory Manager Jens Berkensträter explains the benefits of this choice and throws some light on the peculiarities of horticulture in the interview.

Otto Hofstetter AG started making moulds for PET preforms in 1977. The first order was placed by the Continental Can Company which had been commissioned by two major American beverage producers to evaluate a capable mould maker. Moulds for PET preforms are now a very important part of the business in Uznach. The technical specifications for preforms and production equipment have changed substantially.

Caviar is highly valuable and sensitive, and its packaging is a very decisive factor in the quality of the luxury product. A long-established technique applied to PET bottles is now finding its way into the foodstuffs industry: the multi-layer container with barrier. It offers foodstuffs producers a cost-effective, flexible and safe alternative to the conventional tin.

The application of high-tech can pay dividends even in such simple things as flowerpots. A new approach reduces the consumption of raw material and minimizes the cycle time without impairing the high product quality. The novel technology has been developed by Soparco and Otto Hofstetter AG.

Foodstuffs such as milk, for example, are very sensitive as regards their shelf life. Hereby the right packaging plays a decisive role. Multilayer packaging products based on the co-injection technology are clearly at an advantage. They are not only flexible, safe and economically efficient, but also unobjectionable from the point of view of the law on foodstuffs.

Reduction of the wall thickness is a constant topic with the pack-aging and PET preform industries. Less raw material means to both of them shorter cycle times, lower costs and less weight. No wonder airlines favour the highly developed thin-wall technology in the production of their packaging products.