Putokšnis, a Baltic region’s leading producers of PET preforms has won new market with a minimal plant iinvestment, thanks to some innovative mold technology from SIPA. rivate Limited Liability Company UAB "Putokšnis" produces preforms and also blows PET bottles in Lithuania. Established in Šiauliai, back in 1994, Putokšnis now has customers across Europe, Scandinavia, and CIS countries. Putokšnis has been collaborating with SIPA for around five years now. Together, the two companies have developed new preform designs and lightweighted existing ones. SIPA has supplied Putokšnis with several complete mold sets, such as a 72-cavity system with hot half, cold half and associated components. SIPA has also worked closely with Putokšnis to develop an oval-shaped bottle which Putokšnis produces on an SFL 4/4 linear stretch-blow molding system. Recently, SIPA supplied the company with a complete 96-cavity Micropitch preform mold, which Putokšnis is now running on an injection molding machine originally intended only for molds with up to 72 cavities. As a result, Putokšnis has been able to get a new order for which it originally thought a complete new injection molding system might be necessary. Needless to say, thanks to SIPA, its final financial outlay was much reduced. Algis Atkociunas, Active CEO at Putokšnis says: “Thanks to SIPA, we have succeeded in signing a contract with our customer in the best way possible, minimizing our investment.” With the new 96-cavity mold replacing the old 72-cavity one, Putokšnis has increased output on its existing machine by1/3. On SIPA Micropitch molds, 96 cavities fit into the space normally required for 72 cavities, all across the same mold width. This is achieved without any compromise in processing performance, either in terms of preform quality or cycle time. Because SIPA is expert in the design of hot runners as well as molds, it has managed to achieve excellent hot runner balancing with the new cavity layout, and an optimal clamping force distribution that minimizes wear. So the mold should be producing high quality preforms for a long time to come.