Interviews: Consumer

Over 400 Million containers per year

Interview with Daniel Flores, General Manager of Coplin SA

COPLIN, a division of Grupo Agro Industrial Zaragoza, is the leader in manufacturing of plastic package for the Dairy Industry in Mexico. They currently operate a range of Uniloy Reciprocating Machines, distributed in 5 blow molding plants strategically placed in the country. They have an installed capacity to manufacture an average of 400 Million containers per year, in a range from 110 ml up to 4 liters and a range of Ferromatik Milacron machines to manufacture their own plastic closures.

Which is your company’s core business and future strategies?
Flores: As of today, Coplin serves primarily a very dynamic and demanding market such as fresh milk and Juices. As a package, Fresh Milk has been using a generic bottle design that does not differentiate their own brands from competitors in the market; as of now, Coplin faces the challenge of designing and manufacture new packages that offer to their customers a unique shape while optimizing resin usage to compensate the resin prices escalade.

Could you please give us a short description of the whole product range of your Company in the food/dairy category?
Flores: Coplin offers a wide range of Plastic Package suitable for the different products a typical Dairy may combine such as:
:: plastic containers for Juice in a range of 250 ml and 500 ml;
:: plastic containers for Fluid Yogurt in a range of 110 ml and 250 ml;
:: plastic containers for Flavors fresh milk in a range of 250 ml. and 330 ml for school breakfast;
:: plastic containers for Fresh Milk, Water and Juices in a range of 1 liter, Gal and 1 Gal;
:: plastic Closures Snap on 28 mm,Snap on 38 mm and a new design Snap Screw 38 mm. All proprietary design.

Technologies and applied processes: what is consolidated as standard and what is new?
Flores: In the past, the packages in our market has been an inherit situation from the US consumers, which by definition, does not satisfy the Domestic needs, as consumers in the US have different purchase power than the ones in Mexico. As of today the market approach is to have a generic 1 liter container design with handle, which turns out to be heavy at 32 grams and somewhat impractical to use because of the small handle. New packages are under joint development with Uniloy Mold Group at Tecumseh, to make a light weight container that addresses the ergonomic requirements for children to be able to poor milk on a glass from a container easily. Uniloy has been working in developing the container shape along with Coplin marketing department, starting from sketches, focus groups, and surveys to arrive to a unique design that allows Coplin’s Customers across the Country to differentiate their own brands while lowering costs in a range of 18% to compensate the resin prices increases.

Which are the main features of your product range? Which is the most important (most appreciate) product of yours?
Flores: Current closures for a Dairy application are same case, taking a design that has been working in the US and adapt it to Mexican Standards may not resolve our specific needs. Uniloy has worked together with Milacron affiliates such as Ferromatik Milacron from Germany for injection machines, DME from US for the hot runners and injection mold design and Uniloy Milacron from USA for the blow molds, to develop an injection closure in conjunction with its neck container design that allows to have product lity gallons with the same precision as our newest Uniloy half gallon machine that we purchased in 1999.