The companies of WIFAG-Polytype Holding AG (Fribourg, Switzerland) are separated into three divisions:
Plastic Division (Polytype AG in Fribourg, Switzerland) and Metal Division (Mall+Herlan GmbH in Pfinztal, Germany) and Monoblock Aerosol Steel Cans (xtracan GmbH in Neuhausen ob Eck, Germany).
Polytype AG, a subsidiary of WIFAG-Polytype Holding AG, is an active Swiss mechanical engineering company whose products are used in the packaging industry for food, drinks, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals.
The company's primary focus is the decoration and finishing of plastic cups, lids, tubes, bottles and sleeves.
| Type: | Limited Company |
| Founded: | 1960 |
| Headquarter: | Fribourg, Switzerland |
| Management: | Julien Bianchi (CEO) |
| Employees Plastic Division | |
| (Polytype AG/PAP/PAC): | 400 (2024) |
| Industry: | Mechanical and plant engineering |
Mall + Herlan GmbH is one of the world’s leading producers of machines and complete production lines for monoblock metal packaging.
Aluminium aerosol cans, bottles and tubes are used in the packaging industry for cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, technical and home care products as well as for food and beverages.
| Type: | GmbH |
| Founded: | 1917 |
| Headquarter: | Pfinztal, Germany |
| Management: | Carsten O'Beirne |
| Employees (Mall+Herlan GmbH, Extracan GmbH): | 200 (2024) |
| Industry: | Mechanical Engineering |
Polytype AG was founded in Fribourg, Switzerland in 1960 as a full subsidiary of what was then Wifag Maschinenfabrik AG (Bern, Switzerland).
In the 1960s, Polytype AG’s main activity was the manufacture of complete aluminum tube production lines at its Fribourg site. This product group was outsourced to the German company Mall+Herlan GmbH (a subsidiary of WIFAG Polytype Holding AG) in 1995. The manufacture of decoration machines for plastic tubes has always been a part of Polytype AG’s portfolio of activities. The first plastic tube decoration system based on dry offset technology was produced by Wifag Maschinenfabrik AG in 1953. The first multi-decoration system (combination of flexographic printing and screen printing with hot stamping and painting) for plastic hoses was delivered in 2010.
In 1963, Polytype AG also began to produce machines for the decoration of plastic cups. The first digital printing machine for cups was finalized and delivered by Polytype AG in 2010.
Plastic tubes: development, manufacture, and distribution of individual machines through to line concepts for the decoration of plastic tubes/hoses and plastic sleeves. These lines are made up of dry offset printing systems and painting or multi-decoration systems (flexographic printing, screen printing, hot stamping, and painting) or hybrid systems (combination of ink jet printing, dry offset printing, and painting systems). They may also feature a tube end machining system downstream for the finalization of the plastic tubes as packaging material. It is also possible to configure a complete plastic tube production line by integrating transfer and memory modules provided by Polytype AG.
Plastic cups: development, manufacture, and distribution of individual machines for the decoration of plastic cups (dry offset printing machines for round cups, square cups and lids, and digital printing machines for round cups and lids).
The following are also part of the Plastic Division:
In 1995 the Mall & Herlan GmbH has been newly established in Pfinztal as a successor of the machine building companies Alfons Mall and Bernhard Herlan with Polytype AG as a shareholder.
Five years later the TMC/CMC 200 machine generation with a maximum speed of 200 cpm was launched. The next milestone in the company history was the launch of a DWI line, a high-performance system for aluminium or steel containers in 2011.
In the recent years ETA-TECH in Switzerland and Frattini in Italy have been integrated into the mall//herlan group in Pfinztal.
Almost every person world-wide has already once held an aluminium aerosol can or tube in his hand.
It is most likely that those products were made on one of our production lines. Acting on an international basis we manufacture highly-efficient turnkey lines for the production of monoblock aluminium or steel packaging by Impact Extrusion or DWI technology.
Customers world-wide are convinced by Mall + Herlan's machinery and its core competences in
As one of the market leaders, it is our endeavour to enable an economically efficient working method coupled with an extraordinary quality standard, focussing all our effort towards our customers success!