Phoenix from the ashes

Alexir Packaging has started production at its new factory in Edenbridge, UK, just 10 weeks after fire completely destroyed its Crawley production facility. The first live production job to leave the new plant was run through the company’s new Bobst Expertfold folder-gluer last month.

To help Alexir establish its new site in record time, two Bobst folder-gluers and a Bobst diecutter were taken from use at the Bobst Group demonstration and training centres in Switzerland and the USA. The process, from the order of three machines to their arrival at the new site, was completed in just three weeks.

Robert Davison, Managing Director of Alexir Packaging, says: “We have had a phenomenal response from our staff, who have worked 24/7 to get us back into production, and they have been supported by an amazing response from our suppliers and by the industry in general. Bobst in particular has pulled out all the stops, taking three machines out of their demonstration centres to get us up and running in the minimum time possible. Our other equipment suppliers have made similar huge efforts.”

Alongside the Bobst Expertfold, a Masterfold 110 folder-gluer and an Expertcut 106 PE diecutter are currently undergoing installation and commissioning at Edenbridge, as is a Komori LSX640+C(H) 6-colour printing press. This machine was supplied by Komori from its demonstration facility in The Netherlands. Other equipment supplied in short order includes a Fuji CTP system, a Kohmann window-patcher, and a Heiber+Schröder tray-former.

Mr Davison comments: “It’s a huge relief to see cartons coming off the Bobst line after all we have been through and it really marks the return of Alexir Packaging. It’s almost unbelievable how far we have come in the past 10 weeks, especially if you factor in the disruption caused by the snow and the Christmas break. We now expect to be fully operational by the end of the month.”

The Bobst Expertfold 110 which produced the first live work at the new plant has been designed for straightline, crashlock, and 4/6 corner carton folding and gluing. The line is complete with an hhs glue detection and code reading system. The Masterfold 110 folder-gluer currently undergoing installation is expected to be the next machine to come on stream and will eventually be augmented by a Bobst Cartonpack GT automatic packer.

Stuart Taylor, Bobst Group’s Area Sales Manager for the south of the UK, says: “It really is impressive to see the progress that Alexir Packaging has made in such a short period of time and at Bobst Group we are happy that we could help them with this. Our sales and service teams in three countries have worked flat out to get the equipment dismantled, packed, shipped, and reassembled here as quickly as possible. There is still work to be done, but once everything is up and running, Alexir will have one of the best-equipped plants in the UK.”

Alexir’s disaster recovery plan was implemented following the fire at Crawley, with production being handled by the company’s disaster recovery partners, FG Curtis and Qualvis. Robert Davison said, “Our plan partners have been superb in ensuring that our customers have suffered the minimum of disruption following the fire. Amazingly, several other companies that we would normally class as competitors have also come forward to offer help. We are now working with a pool of nine carton plants, which shows what a remarkable packaging industry we have here in the UK.”

Alexir Packaging is a privately owned company with 85 staff. It produces around 150 million cartons/year, the majority of which is for the UK retail and single-use foodservice markets. Complementary to this is its specialist cosmetics, toiletries, and pharmaceutical packaging production service.

The company is the carton manufacture arm of the Alexir Partnership, whose other companies are Alexir International, which specialises in providing a comprehensive outsourcing packaging solutions service; Alexir Design, which offers a full in-house design service; Alexir Co-packing, which fills and co-packs to BRC, FSC and Soil Association standards; and Alexir Brands, which delivers finished product solutions.