IPE [International Plastics Equipment]

IPE was originally established in January 1987 by Bob & Irene Parrington. Initially using the trading name ‘International Plastics Equipment’ the company dealt in hot runner technology but soon became involved with local South Australian injection moulders in the supply of moulding machines and ancillaries.

Some early successes with the then small tonnage range of ARBURG machines, as sub-agent to Sydney based Comtec Australia Pty Ltd, lead to the home based business being moved to commercial premises in Glandore. In these early years IPE had gained some national agencies for allied products such as those of Mold-Masters Hot Runners and Stäubli & Cie the Swiss owned coupling and QMC manufacturer.

Also since becoming a distributor for Staubli, the company seized the opportunity to expand its customer base outside the plastics industry. The company’s industrial components now supply industries such as Motor Sport, Alternative fuel, Rail, Automotive, Medical amongst many others.

In March of 2001 the owners acquired the main agency business of Comtec Australia Pty Ltd, which provided a substantial number of national agencies mostly with European suppliers. At this time the trading name was altered to Comtec IPE. A further acquisition that year was JK Plastics Equipment, which added the GHS Automation product line.

Still seeking to build the business to being accepted as one of the major suppliers of equipment to the plastics industry, the assets of Halco Engineering Pty Ltd were acquired in September 2002. This added the representation and manufacture under license of the products of Conair Inc, the Pittsburgh and Franklin, Pennsylvania based major supplier of Drying, feeding and other ancillaries.

Today Comtec IPE is recognised as a leader in the Plastics Industry in Australia and New Zealand for the supply and the service of its complete range of equipment from Europe, Canada and North America.

COMTEC PTY. Limited

The COMTEC name has been in the Australian Plastics and Rubber Industries for over 58 years, building up strong relationships with international machine and equipment manufacturers and local manufacturers to bring the best knowledge and technology into Australia.

Service and results are the driving force behind Comtec and this carries onto today, with Comtec IPE, ensuring our clients the best product recommendations, technical support, spare part availability and up to date information on technical and environmental developments.

Comtec has kept close relationships with all of its principles, maintaining long and prosperous representation of leading manufactures such as ARBURG, Pulsotronic, Werner & Pfleiderer (now part of the Coperion group), MIXACO, WEBER and many others.

Having a long history of service and support in Australia means that Comtec IPE has exceptional experience in specifying, supporting and maintaining equipment in Australian manufacturing conditions.

COMTEC PTY. LTD. was purchased by IPE in 2001 to become Comtec IPE, unifying the rich knowledge bank that both companies posses, integrating operations and offering complete turn key packages for a wide range of applications, both in plastics and other fields of manufacturing. To this day, COMTEC PTY. LTD. staff are still employed with Comtec IPE, ensuring that the high level of service and experience is constantly maintained and improved on. 

HALCO Engineering PTY. Limited

Located in Mentone (adjacent to the Moorabbin Airport) in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, commenced business in 1961 designing and manufacturing various specialist products including custom designed machinery for the Plastics Industry.

In 1967 Halco were appointed the Australian Licensee to a leading international plastics ancillary equipment manufacturer, Conair Inc. in the U.S., manufacturing their expandable polystyrene moulding presses, pneumatic conveying and blending equipment.

Acquired by Comtec IPE in 2002 to become a unified business, HALCO bought along with it years of experience and its national recognition as a leading supplier of plastic industry factory automation systems and general ancillary equipment.

With Halco under its wing, Comtec IPE gained the skills, knowledge and experience of staff specialising in the design, manufacture and installation of automatic polymer transfer systems. Halco bought along with it partnerships dealing in Bulk storage silos; Material vacuum conveying; Drying, Blending and processing machines; Temperature controllers; Robotics and Polymer cleaning.