Moulding machinery manufacturers Wittmann UK (Wellingborough / UK; www.wittmann.co.uk) and Battenfeld UK (High Wycombe / UK; www.battenfelduk.co.uk) have joined forces to create a single presence in the UK. Wittmann Battenfeld UK will be based at Wittmann UK’s Wellingborough site and will be headed up by Barry Hill, former managing director of Wittmann UK. In March 2008, the insolvent Austrian machinery manufacturer Battenfeld Injection Moulding was acquired by Wittmann Kunststoffgeräte, part of the international manufacturer of robots and automation systems for the plastics industry Wittmann Group (Vienna / Austria; www.wittmann-robot.com) – see Plasteurope.com of 17.03.2008.

Facilities at the Wellingborough base include a moulding machine dedicated to operator training and tool trials, stock machines for quick delivery as well as the existing range of Wittmann technology in automation and materials handling.

Hill said that the merged company is committed to restoring the Battenfeld brand in the UK injection moulding market. He added that overall demand for moulding machines in the UK has recently dropped: “Recent soundings of injection moulding machinery suppliers show that the 2008 market – in terms of machines supplied – was about one third down on 2007.”