&Ldquoin the future oystar will concentrate on packaging machines for the food, dairy, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics industries,&rdquo emphasized oystar ceo tom graf after signing the contract with bosch. &ldquothis is where we have our particular expertise and core competences.&rdquo oystar has a strong position on the international market in the key segments of ffsfs cup fillers, cartoning and repackaging machines as well as tube and bag fillers. Oystar aims to expand this leading position even further. In this connection graf made reference to &ldquoprogram one 600&rdquo, in which oystar formulated its strategic goals up to the year 2015. This concept provides for an increase in sales, in particular through newly developed machines. Oystar already plans to present a whole series of new developments at the forthcoming interpack &ndash the largest trade exhibition in the world &ndash including several special developments for newly industrialized countries. In addition, graf attaches great importance to development of the company&rsquos service products and does not rule out growth through acquisitions. For bosch, on the other hand, the purchase of hüttlin and manesty represents a sensible strategic complement to its portfolio. These companies develop, manufacture and sell processing units for the pharmaceuticals industry. Hüttlin, with its principal place of business in schopfheim, manufactures specialpurpose installations for drying and granulation. Manesty, with headquarters in knowsley near liverpool, specializes in tablet compressing and coating machines. &ldquoboth companies are important components in the development of pharmaceutical process technology at bosch,&rdquo stressed friedbert klefenz, chairman of the divisional board of management at bosch packaging technology. &ldquothey support the strategic focus of the division by completing the upstream value adding chain.&rdquo last year hüttlin gmbh and manesty generated overall sales of eur 49 million. Hüttlin employs eighty staff in germany, while manesty has a workforce of 110 personnel in england. The lion&rsquos share, or approximately seventy percent, of the sales are obtained in europe. The companies agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The sales agreements are still subject to approval by the competent cartel authorities.
