CHICAGO, IL – October 18, 2001 – Serving the dairy and water industries by creating single or multi-cavity molds and related machine components means more than delivering high quality parts and moving on. Portola Allied Tool, a wholly owned business unit of Portola Packaging, Inc., specializes in working with customers to effectively design a complete system that will reduce product leakage, improve manufacturing efficiencies and maximize production uptime.

Container and Closure Design Services

Portola Allied Tool is in a unique position to provide design services for single layer blowmolded plastic containers, tapping the resources of its parent company, Portola Packaging, a leading supplier of caps and closures. “We can design a complete system and eliminate problems well before they appear in production,” commented Pat Taylor, engineering manager. “In the past, companies would have to divide the manufacture of the mold and neck tooling to different suppliers. When there was a problem there was no easy solution and no vendor leading the integration of the entire system. Portola designs molds, neck tooling and closures to work in combination with each other. The company has the advantage of multiple PRO E/3-D seats to aid in designing complicated, efficient tooling at the computer stage, well before an investment is made in hard steel. This is particularly important when you consider that a single or multiple cavity mold will last in continuous operation for more than a decade.”

Changing Market Needs – Dairy, Water and Juice

Traditional dairy, water and juice customers have also begun to demand more from their moldmakers in an effort to differentiate their own products from those of the competition. Milk is not just milk anymore or water or juice. Reformulation adding vitamins, additives or nutritional supplements to serve children, adults and special needs requires new container shapes and the ability to label products differently from one production run to another. “Our customers’ molds have to do more for them,” said Billy Epperson, director of sales and marketing. “That may require a distinctive shape to separate their container from others, or an ability to apply varying labels. This trend is the result of recent consolidation of customers into larger, more centralized operations. These companies rely on distinctive packaging and a varied product mix to help grow their market share. Allied can help these customers develop innovative container designs to differentiate their products from the category norm.”

Portola Allied Tool works with customers to evaluate their current systems and to suggest different ways to extend or change packaging options by developing unique molds and container shapes.

“Our business extends throughout the world. Recently, we completed a project for a water bottling company in Saudi Arabia. With our global perspective, we have a large base of knowledge as to what works and what doesn’t,” added Epperson. “Another area of strength for us is turnaround time. We can produce, deliver and install a mold in as little as four weeks.”

Molds, Refurbishing and Machine Components

The company specializes in producing single or multiple cavity molds for AUTOMA®, BEKUM®, FISCHER® and UNILOY® reciprocating screw blowmolding machines. Molds range in size from four ounces to multiple gallon dairy, food, household, chemical, industrial or agricultural containers. Molds are designed for use with HDPE, LDPE, PP, PVC, PET and PC* in the production of immediate use products.

The company also offers complete mold refurbishing services with an ability to repair and return a mold to full production in two to three weeks. Available in stock, machine components include neck ring top blocks, shear steel strikers, neck ring inserts and blow pins. As an additional convenience for customers, Allied also offers rental molds.

Portola Packaging, Inc. is one of the world’s largest suppliers of plastic closures and related equipment used in the dairy, bottled water, fruit juice and institutional food industries. Portola can provide a complete capping system; supplying both the closures and application equipment designed to work together for optimum performance. Headquartered in San Jose, California, Portola has more than a dozen manufacturing facilities worldwide. Portola Allied Tool is located in Michigan Center, Michigan serving customers throughout the world with 35 full time employees and numerous machining operations.

For more information on Portola Packaging, Inc. and its products, contact Portola Packaging, Inc., 890 Faulstich Ct., San Jose, CA 95112, 800-227-7627 or fax 408-453-8462 or online at www.portpack.com.

*HDPE (High-density Polyethylene) LDPE (Low-density Polyethylene), PP (Polypropylene), PVC (Polyvinyl chloride), PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) and PC (Polycarbonate).

®Moovers and Ruggles are registered trademarks of Smith Dairy.