The Sidel Group has confirmed that it will be acquiring Cermex in its core business operations from next month. Cermex is a recognised specialist in case packing, shrink-wrapping and palletising equipment, qualities which Sidel beleives will help expand its offering of integrated products for plastic packaging lines.
Sidel says that the acquisition will allow for increase its capabilities in designing and supplying complete lines, including: bottle blowing machines and barrier treatment from its Blowing & Coating Division; filling machines and Combi equipment from its Filling Systems Division; engineering and conveying equipment from its Packaging Systems Division; and, from Cermex, automated end of line systems that group products together and prepare them for shipment to points of sale.
According to Sidel it is the technological creativity of Cermex that has set it apart. Some of the most recent innovations for the liquid food market from this end of line equipment specialist include the TSI high speed overwrapper, the patented D.I.S. system for automatic changeover of film reels, the new P4 generation of layer palletisers that can reach speeds of up to 80,000 bottles per hour, and high speed, continuous motion, wraparound case packers.
Currently the Cermex Group is composed of Cermex SA (Dijon, France), Cermex OC SA (Lisieux, France), Cermex Inc (Atlanta, US), Cermex UK (Huntingdon, Great Britain), Cermex Mexicana (Queretaro, Mexico), and Cermex SouthEast Asia (Bangkok, Thailand). The group employs about 500 people and sells its products in over one hundred countries, accounting for total sales of €65 million in 2002.
As part of complete Sidel lines, Cermex equipment will be marketed and sold through Sidel's global Sales & Services organisation, which is the group's single contact for customers.For all other markets, Cermex will have teams responsible for handling the development and marketing of its extensive know-how in case packing and palletising.
Sidel, which is part of the Tetra Laval Group, is one of the world's top suppliers of plastic packaging solutions for liquid foods. The group has 3,300 employees in 25 countries and posted a 2002 sales figure of €783 million.