Sheetplant

Welcome to delegates

Chairman Graham Sutherland opened the 66^th Conference of the Sheet Plant Association by welcoming around 60 delegates to the opening session at the Holiday Inn Runcorn on Monday October 15^th 2007.

Representatives from new members N Smith, CRP Print & Packaging, Korsnas UK and Neil Osment Associates were introduced, as were visitors from Anderson Containers, Reedbutt, Board Products Stoke and Sigma2 Solutions.

Safety training on line

The first speaker was Hugh Owen, of Safety Media, who gave a presentation of his company’s safety-related E-training package. Hugh began by explaining that, in these days of increased computer literacy and the proliferation of pc’s in both the home and the workplace, there is a growing role for computer-based employee training.

Safety Media offers pc based health and safety training that includes a suite of risk assessment tools and incident reporting software that may be web or intranet based. The content may be tailored to the needs of the individual client, and the inclusion of a management module allows for ongoing monitoring of employees progress. Employers using the package are assured that there is consistency of content, and that weaknesses in the understanding of specific elements by individual employees is constantly measured and dealt with. Individuals may undertake to do their training at home, or at work or both, and a single database provides a permanent record of compliance for future reference.

The system is said to reduce training costs, may even reduce insurance costs, and is updated to take account of any changes in legislation.

Swanline Print

From the date of its purchase in 2001 from its previous owners, the turnover of Stone, Staffs bases Swanline Print has grown from £350,000 to around £5 million. Managing Director Nick Kirby explained that the activities of the business had been re-focussed, and that Swanline was now firmly established as a trade only quality specialist printed packaging supplier, offering a range of high quality print options such as litho lamination, screen print and film lamination with full complementary die cutting and multi point gluing.

‘Corrugated packaging has a superb environmental record - in 2005, 84% of the corrugated board used in the UK was recycled. On average, boxes already contain 76% recycled material and many contain 100%, and as a result, an area of board the size of Greater London avoids going to landfill every four months’. This was the key message from Mr Andrew Barnetson, Corrugated Sector Manager of the CPI, speaking at the latest UK Sheet Plant Association Conference.

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At the opening session on 5^th February of the well attended 64^th Conference of the Sheet Plant Association, Raj Bhardwaj of the KnowItAll consultancy gave a presentation outlining the make-up of the UK sheet feeder/sheet plant sectors. His talk gave an overview explaining who the main players are, and how their share of the market has changed in recent years. The many closures, acquisitions and mergers have altered the face of both the sheet plant and sheet feeder market place, with mixed results.
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Addressing the 63rd Conference of the UK Sheet Plant Association, held at the Holiday Inn Runcorn on 2^nd & 3^rd October 2006, Mr Mark Shaw of Abbey Corrugated estimated that the UK corrugated market accounted for approximately 4 billion square metres. The sheet plant share of that volume, having dipped somewhat in 2003/2004, had in 2006 recovered to around 28% by volume, and 30-35% by value, making the sheet plant share of the UK market one of the largest in the whole of Europe.

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6-7 March 2006, Stratford Manor Hotel, Stratford-Upon-Avon

SPA meets at Stratford

Members of the UK’s Sheet Plant Association have been given an exclusive update on the new regulations relating to both Packaging Waste and Control of Noise at Work, just two of the topics covered at the recent SPA Conference. Held at the Stratford Manor Hotel on March 6th and 7th 2006, the conference, which preceded the SPA Annual General Meeting, also gave members an opportunity to catch up on the latest developments in machinery and services.

Opening the meeting, Chairman Mr Graham Sutherland welcomed delegates representing sheet plants and sheet feeders, as well as machinery and service providers. Among the guests attending the conference was Mr Neil Whipp, representing both Pro Carton, (the European Association of Carton Manufacturers and Cartonboard Mills) and BPIF Carton, the latter being a special interest group within the British Printing Industries Federation. He told the delegates, ‘We feel that we share a great deal of common ground. Many of the problems facing the folding carton industry are the same as those confronting the corrugated board industry, and we are keen to find ways of working together.’

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