November 2006
BPIF Cartons/Pro Carton break new ground in Belfast
Meeting in Belfast on 15 November, BPIF Cartons broke new ground by bringing together printers not only from Northern Ireland but also from the Irish Republic and the rest of the UK including Scotland. Chaired by Mark Kerridge (Benson Box), the day was set out into five business sessions followed by a joint BPIF Cartons/ Pro Carton dinner. The sessions proved that the main topics of the carton industry are the same irrespective of location. They included; improving company performance through lean manufacturing, benchmarking and the benefits of promoting the industry. Dan Sherwin Senior Process Engineer for Vision in Print introduced the objectives and methods of delivering lean manufacturing programmes by ViP, a not for profit organisation run by printers for printers. John Westwood of CPC Packaging of Kings Lynn explained the practical benefits he and his company obtained from working with ViP to improve company performance and profitability. An essential part of the success at CPC was in winning the hearts and minds of the company employees and gaining their commitment to the lean process. Following these sessions Vision in Print were asked to consider rolling out their lean manufacturing projects to companies in Ireland. Peter Vincent Head of BPIF Technical Services explored the benchmarking carried out by other areas of the print industry and how these could be adapted to the printed carton sector. Kyle Jardine BPIF information services manager made the delegates aware of the extensive data BPIF had available on the industry and the use in which companies could use these statistics to assist in their business strategy preparation. Michael Clark President of Pro Carton Europe concluded the business sessions with an introduction of the aims and objectives of Pro Carton to promote the use of cartons as a packaging medium. This included working with young people who in turn could be future employees of the sector and/or users of printed carton products. Pro Carton also lobbied extensively on behalf of carton board and thus benefited carton converters too. The desire from those present to benchmark in order to identify areas for improvement or to confirm they were in the right direction was the resounding conclusion to the day. The discussion continued during the BPIF Cartons/ Pro Carton dinner, however companies were hesitant to openly discuss where they were at present. A solution that was discussed and will be taken forward by BPIF Cartons is for a confidential survey to be carried out and the results published anonymously. BPIF National President Dominic Walsh gave a commitment to fund such a survey if companies give their support to participate. For further information please contact Mike Hopkins on 01924 203 330 or Bob Thompson on 0161 886 8400.
