Press Releases
Karlville heats up sleeve market with Scheidegger
Karlville Development LLC, a leading manufacturer of shrink sleeve converting and application machinery based in Miami, Florida, has acquired the complementary business of French manufacturer Scheidegger Inc. The acquisition will expand Karlville’s global product line, as well as bolster service and support for Karlville’s growing converter customer base in Europe. A 60-year old family-owned business, Scheidegger began manufacturing shrink sleeve application machinery in Lyon 20 years ago and has developed a number of unique solutions. The acquisition will enable Karlville to offer a complete range of full body application machinery including high speed tamper-evident solutions.
Scheidegger was an attractive proposition for Karlville. With a reputation for innovation and quality, Scheidegger has over 700 installations around the world with many major end users such as Quaker, PepsiCo, Shell, McCormick, Snapple and Unilever. Karlville has successfully focused on the converting market within the shrink sleeve industry in the past and aims to leverage the experience of both companies to increase its visibility and sales to major brand owners.
“Moving forward our vision is three-fold,” says Karlville vice president Raul Matos. “Our European business has been growing significantly on the converting side and we are planning to open a technical center, like the operation we have in Miami, to support our customers’ business. The center will offer end-to-end testing and demonstration equipment that converters will be able to use with their customers to find the right solution for difficult applications.
“This acquisition will also enable us to offer a complete product line. The Karlville portfolio currently covers about 60-70 percent of applications, but the merger with Scheidegger will enable us to service 90 percent of the worldwide market. Thirdly, we will be able to offer a new level of design and development for specialty high-volume applications.”
Karlville will continue to manufacture machinery in Scheidegger’s existing operation in Lyon, France. The European service technicians will be cross-trained on both brands of machinery. This will ensure even faster service for Karlville customers in Europe, Middle East, Russia & Africa.
Customers will benefit from a combined product line which will include Karlville’s SleevePro machinery, which applies between 200-450 pieces/minute, and Scheidegger’s four product lines. Scheidegger’s StarTec tamper-evident line, for use in rotary labeling applications can apply up to 600 pieces per minute, while the TamperTec stand-alone tamper-evident solution applies at 1000 pieces per minute. For fully-body sleeves, the AccuTec transfer system is ideal for end users who have very strict tolerances such as the health, beauty and personal care markets where accurate alignment and visual impact are crucial, while the TransferTec is designed for higher speed full body applications.
Karlville president John Price concludes: “This acquisition shows our customers that we are committed to taking a global leadership role in developing the shrink sleeve market and have high expectations for market growth.”
Karlville’s technical center in Miami enables end-to-end testing environment for converters and end users.