Nissei, Negri Bossi unveil collaboration, aim for ‘inclusive growth’

Hozumi Yoda.

The merging of two major injection molding machine builders — Nissei Plastic Industrial Co. Ltd in Japan and Negri Bossi SpA in Italy — at the onset of the pandemic in 2020 meant embracing a lot of change to collaborate on a model launch for K 2022.

Using English as a common language and online meetings to share ideas when travel was restricted, the combined companies’ first project together resulted in the NOVA5e-T series, a new flagship model that Negri Bossi will sell to the European market.

Nissei developed the base of the all-electric machine and Negri Bossi, a subsidiary of Nissei Group, handled the external design.

Going forward, the procurements and production bases will be shared as the companies make the best of their complementary product lineups, which cover a tonnage range of 7 to 7,000 metric tons (7.7-7715 U.S. tons), and sales outlets.

The NOVA5e-T Series shows the combined strength of Nissei Group (Hall 15, B22) moving into the era of the Internet of Things.

"As a group, development capabilities have been improved, and the sales and service network has been expanded. Brand trust of Negri Bossi has been rising, and inquiries have been increasing," Nissei officials said in an email.

The early adopters of the NOVA5e-T Series will be manufacturers in the medical and containers markets, they added.

The merged companies, which were each founded in 1947, also are close to another machine-making milestone as they mark their 75th anniversary.

"We expect to achieve the 200,000th installation around the end of first quarter or early second quarter in 2023," Nissei officials said.

Nagano-based Nissei was founded in October 1947 by Katashi Aoki, who converted a hen house into a factory and started producing shoe horns, spoons, forks and umbrella handles. To improve product quality, he developed and built his own injection molding machine, which then became the focus of the business in 1957.

Nissei builds presses, molds, automatic molding systems and measuring equipment. The publicly traded company saw consolidated sales of $331 million (48,731 million yen) for the fiscal year ended March 2022. That's up 17.1 percent compared to the prior year

Milan-based Negri Bossi, which was founded by M. Pietro Negri and Walter Bossi, has been focused on presses with 50 to 700 metric tons (55 to 7716 US tons) of clamp force.

The two companies’ deep roots in the plastic industry is helping the teams come together.

"Both companies are commemorating their 75th anniversaries and have rich histories as injection molding machine makers, making us easier to understand each other," Nissei officials said. "We have web meetings regularly to also deepen mutual understanding."

At K 2022, Nissei Group also will display an advancement related to processing polylactic acid (PLA) derived from corns and sugar canes. The biodegradable resins are considered a good prospect to replace petroleum-based plastics.

Another Nissei Group exhibit targets automotive-specific applications, including electric vehicles. The exhibit features a hybrid type vertical injection molding machine — TWX220RIII25V — that offers one of the industry's lowest machine heights with a 2,110kN (220-ton) clamping force.

"We expect more parts will be made of plastics, and integral [modular] parts will be popular," Nissei officials said. "Nissei offers low-floor type, mid- to large-tonnage vertical machines in the TWX Series (220-tonne and 300-tonne) that meet the molding needs for large insert-molded products."

In addition, the company will exhibit a new micro molding machine, NEX30Ⅳ-1EN1, with 30 tonnes of clamping force for the medical and electronics markets. The press was added to the micro molding machine lineup to meet increasing demands in the North American market, Nissei officials said.

Before the pandemic, in 2019, about 15 percent of Nissei sales were to medical molders. Then COVID-19 spread around the globe and medical demand at the company surged to 39 percent of sales in 2020 followed by 31 percent in 2021.

In 2022, the company's K show theme is "inclusive growth" with Nissei officials saying they are raising the bar for production with advanced technologies that improve factory environments and the value of plastics.

The late 2019 merging of machine builders Nissei in Asia and Negri Bossi in Europe made sense, bringing the companies complementary sales outlets worldwide and product lineups from small to super large machines.

The timing just ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic posed new challenges but didn't stop research and development teams from collaborating on the NOVA 5eT series, which is based on Nissei's fifth generation NEX-V series.

Company officials describe the exterior as "sophisticated and high-functioning" and they said the base offers several benefits.

The base has a new standard screw for better plasticization stability, which reduces molding defects. It also provides uniform pressure transmission to the mold despite the toggle mechanism; one of the widest platen sizes and longest daylights in the industry in a compact footprint; and a new controller (TACT5), which functions as a network hub to connect auxiliary equipment in the factory.

Compared to past generations of controllers, the TACT5 improves operability and functionality when it comes to maintenance and communication with auxiliary equipment.

Overall, Nissei officials expect the NOVA5e-T series to have wide appeal for being: operator-friendly with an IoT controller; mold-friendly with uniform pressure transmission; and friendly to the environment in terms of energy-savings, clean operation and a higher rate of accepted product.

At K 2022, the company is exhibiting two presses from the series. A NOVA 5e110T H230 with 1,080kN of clamping force will produce cutlery that meets European food-contact safety standards from a composite material of PLA and wood flour.

Another press, a NOVA 5e180T H590 with 1,765kN of clamping force, will demonstrate the injection blow molding of PLA bottles in one process that incorporates an in-mold labeling (IML) device.

Nissei bought Negri Bossi to add large-tonnage injection molding machines and reach a greater geography for its product line. Nissei's sales staff is introducing customers to the Negri Bossi machines as they study their investment options.

"We are confident that it will be a huge addition for Nissei to be able to offer super-large tonnage range machine, which Nissei did not offer before," company officials said, pointing to clamp forces up to 7000 tonnes.

Nissei officials see opportunity in Japan to sell into the markets for large containers and automotive products. The machines in the company's Negri Bossi's BIPower Series and Nissei's FVX Series and FWX Series are showing wide appeal, they said.

Company officials are pleased with the cross-selling progress.

"Because of the collaboration between Nissei, Negri Bossi's sales has increased, especially in Europe and South America regions. We are hoping to sell Nissei machines to these regions in the future," company officials said.

Negri Bossi has two factories in Italy and one in India. No layoffs occurred during the merger but the number of employees is down slightly with hiring underway.

Also, in the works are plans to increase production efficiency and address outsourcing at Negri Bossi.

"Currently, it is underway to become less dependent on outsourcing by utilizing Nissei Group's business system and supply chains," Nissei officials said.

Company officials expect to plan more face-to-face meetings and corporate events, too.

"Since the pandemic hit right after the merger and acquisition, it was difficult for us to socialize other than during work, and we were not able to host parties for staff," Nissei officials said. "The management has been sharing information to its staff about Nissei Group, purpose of M&A, and future plants in the briefings to gain understanding. When the pandemic is behind us, we would like to increase interactions."

When it acquired Negri Bossi in 2020, the Nissei board of directors bought 75 percent of the shares. Nissei officials said the remaining shares will be purchased soon.

The pandemic also spurred Nissei researchers and developers to design a new micromolding machine, which resulted in the NEX30Ⅳ-1EN1 molding resin medical needles at K 2022.

The press is equipped with a two-stage type, high-precision injection unit that consists of a screw and plunger capable of stable micro molding under 1.0 gram per shot.

The injection stroke processes material with improved controllability, even at small volumes, according to Nissei officials.

The company worked on a medical application using a test mold developed by Yamada Seiko Co., Ltd., which is headquartered in Uonuma City, Niigata, Japan. Yamada Seiko conducted a trial production of micro resin needles for potential clients in the medical industries.

Molding tests and demonstrations of the resin needles, which were made of polypropylene and weighed 0.004 grams, were successful in terms of the linearity of the mold opening and closing, high-speed injection and high-pressure filling performance of the machine, according to the company.

In Japan, Nissei officials say the company had a 46 percent share of the market in 2021 for micro precision injection molding machines, which range from 1-190kN of clamping force.

At K 2022, the company also has a 6,500kN (650-ton) Vector sT Series press with servo pumps and a new controller molding coffee machine body parts. The company says the toggle press paired with general-purpose automation is a suitable injection molding machine for the white goods, automotive, containers, and construction markets.

The company also has a 10,000 kn (1,000 ton) NOVA p1000 H9500 machine with new platen geometry and increased tie-bar space molding automotive speaker covers.

In addition, a hybrid vertical injection molding machine — the TWX220RIII25V — is insert molding automotive parts (radiator fan shrouds) with an articulated robot. Thanks to a newly developed compound type clamping mechanism, company officials said the mold mounting height and overall machine height were lowered to improve work environment for operators.

In the United States, Nissei America Inc., Nissei Group's U.S. sales subsidiary, is relocating to San Antonio, Texas, following its absorption-type merger with the U.S. production subsidiary, Nissei Plastics Machinery America Inc., in July 2021.

The Texas site will offer consolidated machine manufacturing and sales catered to the U.S. market.

In China, earlier this year, Nissei Group established a production subsidiary, Nissei Plastic Machinery (Haiyan) Co. Ltd., in Haiyan County, Zhejiang Province. The subsidiary will let Nissei Group supply soaring demand for injection molding machinery centered in Asia as it continues to strengthen its global production and sales structure.

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