Within the plastics industry, the moulding tool sector is undergoing the same kind of consolidation being experienced in other areas. The pioneer and market leader in the field of standard mould units in plastics processing, Hasco-Normalien Hasenclever GmbH & Co (Im Wiesental 77, D-58513 Lüdenscheid), and the Canadian technology and market leader for hot runner systems, Mold-Masters Ltd (233 Armstrong Avenue, Georgetown, Ontario, Canada L7G 4X5), have concluded a strategic alliance in order – according to a statement from Hasco – “to exploit the superior skills of both companies.”

The first step in the cooperation is the joint worldwide marketing of the “Temp-Master” range of temperature control systems for hot runners. From the beginning of 2000, the intention is to jointly offer complete hot runner systems on the North American market, in other words Hasco will also be marketing the Mold-Master services – especially product-related developments – in the United States in order to be able to place their own standardised hot runner components more effectively on that market. The new partners anticipate that utilising the joint global production capacities and exploiting the two companies´ marketing and service networks will generate advantages in the form of price benefits for the customers. Questioned by PIE, Hasco´s Managing Director, Ulrich Kloss, explained that the cooperation in Europe relates exclusively to the control systems and that no further steps are planned for the present.