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Mar 27, 2024

Austrian mold maker Haidlmair opens US subsidiary

Austrian mold maker Haidlmair GmbH specializes in tooling for large plastic products such as beverage crates, pallets, technical parts and automotive components. Austrian mold maker Haidlmair GmbH

Austrian mold maker Haidlmair GmbH specializes in tooling for large plastic products such as beverage crates, pallets, technical parts and automotive components.

Austrian mold maker Haidlmair GmbH (Hall 12, Booth D36-01) has a new U.S. subsidiary in Charlotte, N.C.

The company announced just before K 2022 that it had established Haidlmair Corp. located within an existing site owned by, a Röthenbach, Germany-based partner company.

Haidlmair specializes in tooling for large plastic products such as beverage crates, pallets, technical parts and automotive components.

The company found it hard to serve its clients in North and South America. Shipping molds from Europe to the U.S. was not ideal as Haidlmair saw shipping costs rise.

This is not the first time that Haidlmair has had a North America location. In 2015, it bought a majority stake in Tesan Mould Inc. in Concord, Ontario. But the family that previously owned Tesan Mould bought back that company in 2021, and Haidlmair began the search of a new facility.

"We found in Pfaff Molds a really good partner because to start from zero to build up a plant and facility, get employees and so on, it's not that easy," said Peter Peschl, Haidlmair head of corporate communications.

The facility is up and running, but Haidlmair is still trying to expand its employee numbers in the United States. Right now the facility is being used for servicing and maintenance work, and it has three employees.

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Haidlmair has 310 employees at its main facility in Nussbach, Austria, that manufactures injection molds for packaging products. It also has 157 employees at a facility in Hungary, which makes medium-sized molds.

There were some requirements as Haidlmair searched for a company to partner with. Haidlmair preferred to work with a company that had an actual brand in the U.S. Pfaff is allowing Haidlmair to use room in its facility as well as some of its machines.

"We really want to have our foot in the U.S. and have a facility to service the molds and also to finish the molds there and try them out," Peschl said. "We are starting now, and we really want to get bigger."

Haidlmair knows the market in the U.S. can be huge and it wanted to be able to expand its customer base in this process. Having a U.S. facility also meant being closer to big clients such as Monoflo International, a producer of pallets and logistics containers.

Looking into the future, Haidlmair is thinking about buying a new plant right next to the current Pfaff location.

At K 2022, Haidlmair highlighted sustainability. Two years ago, officials took the initiative to aim for carbon neutrality. As of last year, they achieved carbon neutrality in Austria.

"We provide our customers with the chance, if they want, to have a carbon-neutral mold," Peschl said.

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