Berry Introduces Global Tooling Services

Packaging supplier Berry Global Group Inc. (Evansville, Ind.) launched Berry Global Tooling Services, which it describes as a consolidation of the company’s regional global tooling operations into one comprehensive unit that still allows it to maintain regional insights and local support services. Created from its 10 global tooling manufacturing locations, the Tooling Services unit will give Berry’s current and future customers access to a full suite of tooling capabilities, including injection, blow, compression, and thermoforming molds that can be integrated into existing product orders.

Noting that many companies rely on independent tooling shops, Kevin Pennington, VP of Berry’s Global Tooling and Automation division said his unit will eliminate the need for a third-party tooling manufacturer and give customers a one-stop-shop for tooling and converting. In response to Plastics Technology, Pennington said the move did not include the combination of any sites or movement of any equipment.

Berry notes that potential advantages from its consolidation of global tooling operations include faster turnarounds, reduced shipping costs/lead times and assurance that the molds will match Berry’s production lines, among others. Pennington said that the amount of third-party tooling used in packaging that Berry produces varies by product line, with outsourcing as low as 10 to 20% in some businesses, while others are as high as 30 to 40%.

The division has locations in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. In the U.S., the location in in Evansville, Ind., while in Europe, the company has two sites in Germany (Lohne and Zell) and one in Warsaw, Poland. Beyond that, there is a site in Beccles, U.K.; KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa; and ShaTou, Shanghai, ZhuHai and HeFei, China. Within injection molding, tool capabilities include prototype, stack, spinning curve, thin-wall, and multimaterial molds.