THERMOFORMED packaging specialist Macpac is targeting growth in the Scottish market as the firm aims to capitalise on growing demand for sustainable products and in-house tooling and design capability.
The Stockport-headquartered second-generation business was founded in 1973 by the father of current owner Graham Kershaw. In the early days the firm provided packaging for toy giant Meccano and over the years has diversified into a wide range of sectors, most notably pharmaceutical and food and drink. The company boasts a large range of production machines and full toolmaking capability.
UK sales manager Simon Firth told Packaging Scotland that a ‘hands-on, personal’ approach has been key to success. “As a sales team we look after projects from start to finish, so the customer has one point of contact,” he explained. “We’ve grown a lot over the past 15 years in terms of size of business, the number of staff has more than doubled, as well as the number of machines.”
Simon added Macpac’s largest market is now pharmaceutical/medicine, supplying products including pill dispensing packs, packaging for medical components, and heat seal blisters.
Achieving BRC/IOP accreditation allowed the business to move into the food and drink sector, where Macpac’s range includes thermoformed trays, packs for confectionary products, and customised solutions for the drinks sector where packs that both look great and aren’t damaged during transit are crucial aspects.
In recent years, Macpac has enjoyed growing success in online sales of standard stock packaging. Simon added, “The pandemic has meant a lot more cottage/start-up businesses are looking for easier access to packaging suppliers; our online shop has been very successful in helping these customers source their packaging requirements. We’ve invested heavily in tooling for these stock ranges and we’re seeing an increase in sales.
“On the back of that we’ve increased our Plantpac range, which has been really successful over the last five years. This is the horticultural side of the business. We’re constantly adding new packaging formats to the online sales side of the business.”
With sustainability a growing factor for both new and existing customers, Macpac was ahead of the game having been making use of recycled content in materials for over 15 years. “Sustainability is a big part of our discussion,” Simon said. “We’ve launched in the past six months a new section on our website which is very focused on sustainability. It’s a straightforward resource for customers, walking them through how we are approaching (the sustainability challenge), what we’re offering, and gives advice on what they can do. It goes into legislation about what’s down the line and what customers need to consider when looking at materials.
“It’s all about materials. We talk about recyclable materials now, but we’ve been using them for 15 years. Reused or recycled materials is what we do. It’s just making the consumer and our customers understand because not all of them appreciate what rPET is. It’s made with a minimum 80% recycled content and is 100% recyclable.”
In a sure sign the environmental aspect is resonating with customers and the wider public – especially ahead of the impending Plastic Packaging Tax – Simon revealed the questions the company are being asked are changing. “We’re being asked about more technical, in-depth detail as opposed to what (a product) is made of,” he explained. “Customers are asking more focused detailed questions. They’re getting more savvy to what’s going on.”
Like all businesses, Macpac has experienced a ‘very turbulent six months’ with regards to raw material price increases, with Simon revealing he hasn’t seen anything like it since he entered the industry in the late 90s. “Everyone’s experiencing the same problems in terms of raw material price increases, whether you’re using plastics, board or other packaging media,” he said. “Our advantage is we have our own packaging development and toolroom in-house. So, we can develop packaging and produce the tooling at a competitive price as we’re not reliant on external toolmakers. We can therefore control overheads and timings.”
Not surprisingly given Macpac’s work in the medical and food industries, the business remained operational during the pandemic as a supplier of key goods. Simon revealed the business took great pride in the part it played during the period. Macpac even won an innovation award for a project with Network Rail to help design, develop and produce thousands of visors that could be attached to hardhats to allow rail staff to continue to work safely. The manufacturer turned the project around in just two weeks.
“We continued (to operate) as per normal,” Simon said. “The only difference was we put a lot of procedures in place in the factory for staff. We make sure our staff are tested, especially on the factory floor, daily with lateral flow tests. We do temperature checks every day with staff as they enter the building.
“In the food industry, we assumed that one of our customers was stress testing us at the time due to the large and frequent orders they were placing. But it was down to people panic buying items you’d never think of being critical food staples. It put us under pressure, but we managed to get through that and kept supply going.”
Next on the agenda for Macpac is recruiting more staff for the firm’s toolrooms, which is required to keep service levels strong due to an ‘uplift’ in work.
“We want to keep our lead times to a minimum,” Simon explained. “We’re also looking at investing in another one, if not two, production machines in the next 12 months to keep our efficiencies and capacity increasing.”
In Scotland, Macpac has worked with a number of brands in the spirits sector, though Simon admitted they’d like to do more north of the border. “We have a lot of experience within the drinks sector, doing work with large-branded names within the whisky industry and other areas, where we’ve been able to hold and protect whole, physical glasses and bottles that go into a board carton. These products must be able to transit well through the system. If you can grip and hold products without damaging them, it’s a good selling point, which we’ve done in the past and done very well.”
