You could have forgiven Ken Braney for taking an easy option after US thermoforming machinery manufacturer Brown Machine closed its European office. Instead, its former European Sales and Marketing Director is using his experience in the thermoforming industry to spearhead a new company, called Thermoforming Solutions Ltd, based in the UK.

"There was no way I was going to take the easy option," insists Braney. "The industry is so vibrant and the board (of The European Thermoforming Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers) asked me in December if I'd stand for another two years as chairman.

The new company was set up in early 2004, but I didn't mention it until now because I am the Chairman of the European Thermoforming Conference and we had to concentrate on getting that flying first."

Although Braney is no longer employed by Brown Machine, the company will remain a key part of his sales effort in the UK market, in certain European countries and the Middle East: "Brown may have closed its European office but it doesn't want to lose its contact base in Europe so I was asked to do a similar job as before."

Return of the thermoformer

The ability to change once the fashion has gone is more than just an art. In sectors such as packaging it is a necessity, especially if you are a small company. Industry veteran Ken Braney set up his own business last month to help companies to do just that, discovers Steven Pacitti.

Ken Braney's experience will help thermoforming manufactures succeed in a challenging marketplace.

Three good legs, two bad

Braney uses the analogy of a stool with three legs to describe his new business. The first leg is connected to Brown, which makes large, heavy-duty and fast machines. Braney's objective is to offer customers all the pieces of the jigsaw rather than just the thermoforming machine. Therefore, when he meets a potential customer he can talk to them about not only the thermoforming machine but also the tooling and maybe other parts, even a complete turnkey solution as well. With that in mind he has agreed with Tooling Technology of the USA to act as their agent for their large tools for the cut sheet sector of Brown Machine's equipment.

"Instead of giving advice to companies about speaking to Company A or B about large tooling and other things I can offer those parts of the puzzle too." Braney will also seek new companies that he can work with in the UK market. Thermoforming Solutions already has agreements with equipment suppliers such as STS Italy Packaging equipment, Cool Tech Srl Italy for water chillers, as well as Adler granulation equipment and now large tooling for twin sheet and heavy gauge thermoforming from Tooling Technology. In Middle East markets the company will offer Brown Machine machinery and tooling, Adler granulators, Cool Tech cooling equipment, Tooling Technology Large tools, Kuhne GmbH Germany extruders and Nelipak blister sealing equipment.

If one-stop shopping is the first leg, the second leg is a longer term plan to help individuals to start up companies in thermoforming or related plastics industries. The new companies will be mainly UK-based. "At the moment America is very strong because it has a weak dollar and companies can sell product abroad without any problem at all," he says. "It won't last forever so they are looking to open a plant somewhere; I believe it should be here where it can grow. As I have been involved with USA companies for nearly 30 years I have a strong contact base to help them in the European market" Braney is not talking about a big multi-national just putting a new plant up, but companies wanting to expand outside America that do not necessarily have the contact base. "These companies will not be after a general market type business but a niche business which large suppliers are not really interested in." Finally, the third leg will entail working with people that Braney has known for many years in different countries who want him to help them get the latest technology.

This touches upon one of the key discussions that took place at this year's European thermoforming conference in Viareggio, Italy, about Far Eastern manufacturers growing at the expense of European ones, because of labour costs. "It sounds hard but the only way to compete with the Far East is to reduce labour costs. You have to be more robotic. Put material in one end and at the other end you have a box, which you fill with packed and sealed product. That's what's happening."

Industry challenges

The ability to change is very important in the niche markets that Braney is targeting. In the fast food or disposable cups market, companies are making billions of containers every year and reducing them by the finest 0.001 thickness - to make a profit - whereas smaller volumes and niche areas offer versatility with a simple tool change. The medical sector is a key area for growth here.

Another key concern for thermoformers is the constant threat of injection moulding. "In injection moulding you are making vast volumes, so what they cannot do is make quick change. While thermoforming production might not be as cost effective on the largest volume, you have the ability to make more versatile products with cheaper tooling and easier and faster changeover." Braney points out that the speed of changeover is now becoming extremely fast: "It used to be that up to a certain point it made sense to thermoform and after that point it made sense to do injection moulding. But that line is moving and we are taking more market share in thermoforming than in the past."

From a packaging point of view however, thermoforming still has not seen some of the innovations that injection moulding has, such as in-mould labelling, but Braney says he would be surprised if major Thermoforming machine manufacturers such as Illig, Brown or Kiefel were not working hard at solving this problem. Illig produced a machine in the 1990s with in-mould labelling, which was running at DKW in the Netherlands.

"Imagine the process of physically putting a paper printed label into a mould, then putting the plastic to form the container. The slightest mistake and you've not only lost the plastic but also the paper and the whole mould has gone." The cost base was too high, making it still cheaper to print on afterwards. Whether in-mould labelling in this sector will be viable in a year or even five years is still anybody's guess.

At the last European Thermoforming Conference in 2002, RPC Group announced that its customer Unilever had decided to replace thermoforming with injection moulding for its margarine packaging business. This involved in-mould labelling. Although Braney is not convinced that the RPC story will be the last big switch by an end user, he points out that major thermoforming packaging companies are innovating and taking market share, not from other thermoforming suppliers, but from other processes.

There are also companies that grow a market from nowhere with innovation. In the last three years Brown machine has sold three thermoforming machines to the British packaging manufacturer Autobar for making PET containers for fruit in Spain. Autobar are an example of the innovation of the leaders in the market, exporting to a wide world market even to countries across the Atlantic, where they are filled and then transported to America. "The market wanted PET, and Autobar were able with help of their suppliers to satisfy that need. That is innovation and PET is the next big growth area for material in the thermoforming packaging and disposable market. Cups, containers, lids provided by the disposable suppliers are now being switched to PET as a good alternative to existing HIPS and PP, due to its clarity and other important attributes."

Braney is excited by the potential in the thermoforming sector and is keen to watch the industry grow. His experience could be valuable for many companies wanting to flex their muscle in the market in the years ahead.