Italy and India roll mold manufacturers establish cooperation

Italian mold maker Roto Mouldssrl has been with M. Plast (India) Ltd. The company signed a technology transfer agreement to help upgrade the capabilities of the Indian company and to open new markets such as the Middle East and Africa.

Both contracting parties are relatively small-scale rotomoulding mold manufacturing companies. The two parties announced the news at a press conference held in New Delhi on January 30 and stated that if the cooperation goes smoothly, the two companies may formally form a joint venture. .

Terzi Manuel, owner and managing partner of RotoMoulds, headquartered in Milan, Italy, said: “We hope to jointly develop many new markets, such as the Middle East and Africa. [These companies] want to buy products with good quality and fair prices. And now they are unable to find such sources elsewhere."

The two companies did not publish the specific terms of the agreement, but said that they will mainly cooperate on steel and stainless steel molds.

As part of the technology transfer agreement, the two parties will conduct comprehensive employee training in the next two months. RotoMoulds will send specialized technical personnel to India for M. Plast employees are trained while M. Plast will also send personnel to Italy to learn from the scene, headquartered in India's M Noida. Rajendra Shukla, head of Plast, said.

At the 2012 annual meeting of the Asian Rotary Molders Association held in New Delhi from January 29th to 31st, Shukla said in an interview with Manuel that the cooperation will help M. Plast enhances its own quality and better meets the growing needs of the Indian market. It will also allow both parties to have a new platform that is more internationally competitive.

He said: "For us, quality is good and it is good for the other party."

Shukla said that in the future, the production of molds in India will allow the two companies to "significantly" save costs, but the specific situation will not be known until the actual operation.

He said that one of the key areas of cooperation between the two parties will be underground septic tanks or water storage tanks. At present, this market in India is developing rapidly and the Indian company is very experienced in this regard.

Both parties stated that at this stage it is not yet possible to know how many molds will be produced in cooperation, but Shukla said that both parties believe that the annual production of 200 molds can be achieved in the future. Plast's current output is basically flat.

Manuel said that both companies are interested in further deepening the cooperative relationship: "When we each reach a certain goal, we will consider forming a joint venture."

He said: "Through this cooperation, we will bring our own technology to India to help produce better quality molds. On the other hand, it is also good for us... because India's production costs are lower than in Italy."

He said that RotoMoulds company had managed to put the mold products into the Middle East and Africa market, but found that the cost of the molds for the intentional production was too high and they were not competitive in these markets.

The Italian company said that it is possible to export Indian-made molds to Europe, but many European customers prefer to produce molds close to them, which makes it easier and faster to obtain services.

The two companies have only been in contact since about two months ago. Their cooperation was facilitated by Ravi Mehra, general manager of mold manufacturing company Norstar International, LLC in U.S., and Indian-American rotomoulding industry manager.

This is not Mehra's first match for business. He is also the founding chairman of the Asian Rotational Plastics Association in New Delhi, India, and is actively involved in rotomolding trading groups around the world.

In 2007, OKPlayIndiaLtd is located in New Delhi, India. The company and Solar Plastics Inc, located in Delano, Minnesota, USA. Mehra also contributed to the company’s strategic cooperation.

Norstar Corporation and M. Plast also signed a strategic cooperation agreement in 2007, M. Plast Corporation received Norstar's technology license in M. Plast's factory produces aluminum molds.

Shukla said that the partners hope to install a machine for die-casting aluminum molds in a new plant in Noida within one year. He said that due to the lack of professionals who understand this particular process, the project can only be delayed.