Ahead of the game

1 March 2007



The Clondalkin group was quick off the mark in recognizing the potential of having a foothold in Poland


Poland is a rapidly developing hotbed of packaging companies, competing for their share of an increasing volume of business within the Eastern European region. The Irish based Clondalkin Group is one of the businesses taking advantage of this burgeoning market. A growing business, with two divisions - Flexible Packaging (foils, laminates, polymer based films) and Specialist Packaging (folding cartons, labels, leaflets), Clondalkin first arrived in the CEE region in 2003, setting up a Polish division of its UK carton operation, Boxes Prestige.

"We were one of the early entrants into the market and have taken advantage of the opportunity in Eastern Europe from the day our plant opened,” comments Chris Hill, sales and marketing director of the Specialist Packaging Division. “The decision to move here was obviously customer driven, in order to supply the demands for increased local consumption. We were keen to deliver the service levels only achievable through being in close proximity to our customers for existing partners such as Avon, who transferred their own production from the UK to Poland. However, we also wanted to be ahead of the game and pre-empt other companies who were also considering outsourcing manufacturing to the region. As such, we were able to offer a seamless transfer of their packaging needs from the UK to Poland."

Boxes Prestige Poland is located in Lublin, 150 miles south east of Warsaw and with good transport links. The business is locally managed and sources raw materials both internationally and locally from a variety of suppliers. Situated in a 6,000m2 facility, the business produces added value printed folding cartons and operates a range of equipment, including Man-Roland sheet-fed printers and foil blocking and window patching equipment. The operation now employs over 100 staff and has an impressive customer list of both Polish and other European customers.

Harlands Labels (celebrating its 175th anniversary this year) was acquired by Clondalkin SPD in 2005, swiftly following Boxes Prestige to Lublin to set up a mirrored production facility to its UK operation. Chris Hill continues: "Our business is all about creating centres of excellence in production and supplying high quality packaging materials, and with Harlands Labels now situated adjacent to Boxes Prestige Poland we now have a great offering to extend to our existing and new customers across the entire European region."

Harlands Poland has been in operation since October, 2005, employs 18 people and, “to the delight of customers in the region, produces labels to the same exacting standards as the highly successful UK operation”.

Managing director, Ian Wright, says "Poland is becoming more and more important to us and we are delighted to have taken this step. As a business, we had been evaluating Poland for some time and the Clondalkin deal came along at the best possible time, as it provided us with a stepping stone to enter the market and begin production immediately. We've been able to ramp up production to supply Avon with labels from our Lublin plant, and we are now also supplying a range of local and international customers from our Polish base."

Both plants operate nine unit MPS 330 combination UV flexo presses, with 13in web width and interchangeable rotary screen units. The MPS machines also include retrofitted chill drums for producing film products such as sachets, sleeve labels and wraparounds. In addition, both operations include a range of other equipment, with the new Polish facility operating a Mark Andy 2200 and an Aquaflex LX250 in addition to the high speed, long run capabilities of the MPS presses.

Ian Wright continues: "The plan has always been to mirror our production facilities so that we can offer the same flexibility out of both sites whilst building in a level of natural contingency, and it works very well, both for us and our customers."

Clondalkin's move to Poland has been a great success and continues to offer growth potential to the business through the on-going shift to Eastern Europe.

Chris Hill concludes: "Poland has been great for us. We have set up world class manufacturing operations that are managed and run by excellent teams of qualified local staff who can drive our business forward. The geographical position has allowed us to offer a wider range of production options for the increasing number of businesses moving to the region. We are pleased to be able to use our experience of setting up in the region to assist the many customers that are considering the very same move, as it is a great way to develop a mutually beneficial business relationship."



Contact

Clondalkin Specialist Packaging Division
Tel: +44 (0)1254 88151





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Clondalkin Specialist Packaging Division

Clondalkin companies now produce cartons and labels in Lublin Clondalkin companies now produce cartons and labels in Lublin


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