You ordered your first mould from Otto Hofstetter – a 16-cavity cartridge mould – by phone. Usually, the sales process involves several steps over the course of a few weeks. What factors assured you that you were ordering the right product?
In 2001 I saw Otto Hofstetter moulds in operation over an extended period of time. You could see the quality of the moulds just by looking at them, but Hofstetter’s worldwide reputation, particularly for cartridge moulds, was also a very powerful factor in our decision. During our research, we looked at local Australian mould suppliers but we found that Otto Hofstetter offered the best solutions for our needs.
When was your company founded, and how does it look today?
My father and mother established the company in 1983. I joined in 2001 when my dad became ill. It was supposed to be a temporary job for me for until we found a buyer for the company, but I soon saw opportunities in the business and I took up the challenge of running it. I bought the firm in 2001 and by 2007 our business had increased eightfold. When I started, it was a small company. We had a staff of seven, and our key technician soon left us because he was worried about the future of the business when my dad stopped coming in. So, I had to learn a lot of things very quickly: how production works, how a mould is built, how to run the machines, how to adjust production, how to change moulds, etc. Plus, I had to get to know our customers and the market as a whole.
We were doing very well by 2007, but then came the financial crisis, which set us back a little bit. But it also gave us the opportunity to move into pail products, and that’s how the packaging business started, in 2009. I started it from scratch and today that’s basically all we do. We are now dedicated to packaging products and anything in the packaging field. Today, we’re almost 40 times bigger than when we started in 2001. We have factories in two locations and warehouses in four states. We have some ambitious growth targets for the next 10 years. We will be moving to new facilities later this year, with additional machines, and very soon we will be talking to Otto Hofstetter AG about more moulds as well.
At the moment, you are focusing on the Australian market. Are there plans to export to other markets?
Recently we gained some export experience with cartridges to Asia and New Zealand. We have a lot of capacity and we are looking to expand exports to the rest of the world. We are convinced that export markets will welcome what we have to offer. Like Switzerland, Australia is not necessarily a low-cost country, but we do have strict quality controls, and, with our innovative IML decorated cartridge, the demand is there for our products in other regions like Asia and the US.
The range of plastic packaging solutions is very broad. Why did you choose to focus on pails, barrels and cartridges?
Our growth strategy is to continue to find new markets and new products. Four or five years ago, we were driven to cartridges by customer demand. We don’t enter a market segment unless we see an opportunity to do things better than what is already available. Cartridges were ready for improvements, for example, with in-mould labelling decoration, and we felt that we could do that. There was strong demand in the domestic market that supported our focus on that segment.
Your website claims that Ayva is an industry-leading source for plastic packaging products. How do you fulfil this promise?
We achieve it through innovation and continuous improvement. We introduced decorated cartridges to the market here. That’s one example. We also brought a one-piece grease cartridge to the Australian market with in-mould labelling that provides excellent decoration. In addition, our customers get the quality of products made with Otto Hofstetter’s moulds, which means we can deliver uniform mould sections. In the pails business, all of our products are unique designs, and with each new product we bring a new feature to the market and improve their performance. We listen to our customers and we take their feedback as an opportunity to improve our products. We also create new products to solve problems that we hear about from our clients.
To what extent do your high quality standards play a role in the choice of Otto Hofstetter moulds?
Manufacturing is difficult enough, so you have to start with good moulds and good machines. Only then can you guarantee the quality of your products.
From a producer’s point of view, how would you describe the advantages of Otto Hofstetter moulds?
Let’s look at moulds for cartridges, for example. Otto Hofstetter are specialists in that field. They create, develop and continuously improve the design of their moulds to ensure that mould sections are uniform and mouldings are straight. They have years of experience in making cartridges, and that know-how has really helped us to succeed in the market.
How is it to work with Otto Hofstetter, who are based in Switzerland, with you in Australia? That’s halfway around the world.
The cooperation has been very good. For us, the quality of the service we get is as important as the quality of the product we buy. Fortunately, we haven’t had many problems with Otto Hofstetter equipment, and the support from Otto Hofstetter’s technical team has been excellent. And, when we tell them that we want to develop something new or improve an existing product, they come up with good, feasible ideas. They are valued discussion partners. We also work with a local toolmaker here in Australia who has a good relationship with Otto Hofstetter. This is important because we can’t afford the time and expense of sending moulds back to Switzerland every time some work is needed. The support Hofstetter provides our local toolmaker is a big plus for us.
You strive to deliver cost-efficient solutions to your customers. How do you meet this goal when working with tools from high-priced Switzerland?
Otto Hofstetter moulds are substantially more expensive, initially. That’s true. But when we look at the overall service life costs, we believe that the speed, efficiency, low generated waste levels and the lightweight products we make more than justify a high initial cost. Otto Hofstetter moulds last a long time, and that certainly has to be part of the cost calculation. To me, Otto Hofstetter’s quality make them the right decision commercially over the long term.
Your entire product range is 100 % recyclable. How did you manage to do this?
With cartridges, for example, by having in-mould labelling, we use uniform materials in the whole product, for the nozzle, the cylinder and the labelling, which makes it simple to recycle the cartridges.
Sustainability is an important topic for you. Which measures do you already have in place and what is planned for the future?
We reduced the size of some items so that they can be more easily returned to recycling stations, and our production facility uses energy-efficient machines. Also, we invest in good machinery. Efficiency reduces waste. We also make an effort to minimize and separate our waste. We are cooperating with our suppliers as well to ensure that they have the same philosophy.
Can Otto Hofstetter moulds help you reduce the amount of materials you use and make your production more sustainable?
Making products lighter is the best way to reduce the consumption of materials. That’s where Otto Hofstetter comes in. For one thing, we have to gain market acceptance for lighter-weight products, and we’re working with our customers on this. And OHAG’s support in those projects is crucial to their success.
With cartridges, unlike with PET bottles, it’s difficult to reduce materials because of the risk of deformation. How are you meeting this challenge?
That’s right. If you have cartridges that are too thin, they can fail. The environmental costs of leaked silicon sealer or machine grease would far exceed the savings gained from using less material to manufacture the cartridge. Technology is not an end in itself. Otto Hofstetter moulds help ensure uniform mould sections, which allows us to offer the market a very lightweight cartridge, relatively speaking. But we need to push the boundaries further.
What kind of support are you looking for from Otto Hofstetter in future?
Our relationship is still young. So far, everything has been very positive. When an issue has arisen, response times have been very good. So, I hope they keep doing what they have been doing, with continuous improvement, of course. We are confident that we can partner well with them in future. Their support during the development of our cartridge product was really important and helped us succeed. OHAG put in a lot of extra engineering and development work to make it happen, and that is 100% remembered and appreciated. That’s why we can strongly recommend Otto Hofstetter as a supplier.
What do you see as the biggest challenges for your company over the next 5 to 10 years?
I think the biggest challenge that our industry faces is the negative perception of plastics and the availability of sufficient quality recycled resin. This is a global challenge, but in Australia we really have a lot to do. We believe that if we can improve recycling here in Australia, we will provide a real benefit to our society and to our clients.
Many thanks for the insightful interview and all the best for your future with AYVA.
