Formech develop close working relationships with their customer's in the packaging sector
Customer Case Study: Playmobil, Malta
The Customer
Playmobil is one of the biggest names in toy manufacturing employing more than 2,300 staff worldwide. To date, 1.5 billion colourful plastic Playmobil materials have been produced, and the company attributes much of its success to its policy of producing on its own sites in Europe and not outsourcing manufacturing. Playmobil Malta's new 38,000 sq.m. manufacturing plant is ideally configured for processes and material flow and brought about a 20% increase in production in 2004. 2 pieces per second were produced in a 24/7 operation: a total of 76 million items with nearly 1000 variations.
The Challenge
With Playmobil's Malta facility running at full stretch, the company's ambitious plans to launch a further 80 new items in 2005/6 required increased production capabilities. In line with company policy, the team in Malta were keen to keep any new developments on site, and began searching for a machinery supplier who could meet Playmobil's exacting standards for quality and production — which included cost-effective production of small quantity runs — and which could manufacture, deliver and commission the plant in time to enable the production schedule to be met.
An Internet search led Playmobil to Formech, and a visit from the Formech team to Playmobil Malta helped establish the company's precise requirements. Formech's solution was to propose an economical turn key solution to allow Playmobil to form, cut and seal their parts in house and ensure production levels could be met whilst maintaining flexibility and control of their designs and not relying on outside vendors.
The Results
Formech's technology has helped Playmobil Malta keep on track with its increased production schedules by:
Enabling the production of larger and deeper blister packs than could previously be produced, supporting the new product range
Enabling cost-effective production of small quantity runs
Delivering on time and within budget
Providing training for the Playmobil Malta team on-site, enabling production to start as quickly as possible.
Allowing Playmobil to keep all manufacturing and production on site, thus maintaining quality control
Giving Playmobil Malta the capability to produce all packaging required across the Group and play a major role in the Group's planned capacity increase
It was very important that we would be able to continue to provide the blister packs that were required across the Group. The training and after sales support we received from Formech helped us to start production as soon as the machine was in place. I would fully recommend Formech to my colleagues across the Group and if we had further requirements in the future we would definitely turn to Formech. Johann Elsner, Playmobil Malta
Formech have subsequently supplied several more machines to meet the further demands of Playmobil Malta and work closely with them on maintaining the machines and new project development.
It was very important that we would be able to continue to provide the blister packs that were required across the Group. The training and after sales support we received from Formech helped us to start production as soon as the machine was in place. I would fully recommend Formech to my colleagues across the Group and if we had further requirements in the future we would definitely turn to 
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