Netstal Establishes U.S. Subsidiary

After reclaiming its company name and branding and establishing itself as an independent company within the KraussMaffei Group, the Swiss maker of injection molding machines, Netstal, has announced a new U.S. subsidiary to help strengthen its presence in the market. Netstal Inc. will be located in Hebron, Ky., and be headed up by Doug Haberman, who will serve as president of the new subsidiary.

In 1992, Krauss-Maffei AG took over the majority of shares in Nafels, Switzerland-headquartered Netstal-Maschinen AG. Netstal formerly had a subsidiary in Devens, Mass., before KraussMaffei Group consolidated all U.S. activities into Florence, Ky. in 2012. In 2019, while the Netstal branding remained on the physical machines, the company’s name was changed to KraussMaffei HighPerformance AG. Then, in October 2021, the Netstal company and brand were reestablished as an independent subgroup within the KraussMaffei Group.

The recently established U.S. subsidiary moved into its new headquarters in the beginning of March. Haberman and his team, which currently numbers 24 and is seeking to add sales and service representatives, will support new and existing Netstal customers in the U.S. and Canada.

Haberman has 30 years of experience in the plastics industry, including time with machine and material suppliers. Between 1996 and 2007, he held various positions in injection molding machine sales at KraussMaffei Corp. Since 2007, Haberman held leadership positions at the Audia Group of Companies—a compounding and color masterbatch company. Most recently, he managed Audia’s European business from Slovakia. For his new role as president of Netstal Inc., he is returning to the U.S.

In a press release, Renzo Davatz, Netstal CEO said Haberman and his team will be key to growth of the North American market as “one of Netstal’s core markets,” specifically citing the company’s ELIOS range of injection molding machines for thin-walled applications, as well as its PETLINE range for PET preforms, as being “tailor made” for the region.

Beyond warehousing and spare parts inventory, Netstal says the new facility in Kentucky will serve as an administrative hub for the U.S. and Canada, including sales, service and applications engineering. A Netstal spokesperson told Plastics Technology that the new site has a demonstration area with space for two machines, with the plan being to have a smaller electric ELION press and a larger ELIOS on hand at any given time. Lead times are currently an issue, but the plan is to have at least one machine in the facility by the end of the year. The site also has space for equipment refurbishment, and the spokesperson said it will begin work on its first refurb machine next week.