Former sales director at the North Tyneside print, packaging and supply chain business Chris Hewitt takes over from Kevin Rogers who has been appointed Elanders’ head of print and packaging solutions Asia and member of group management.
Hewitt said he wanted to expand the company’s packaging client base from the drinks trade to other high-end industries, such as jewellery.
His strategy over his first 18 months in charge is to bring production of packaging to an equal level to that of traditional commercial print, and that will involve an as-yet unrevealed investment.
“It follows what customers asked us to do. We’re investing across Europe. Our clients have asked us to do very high runs. They are now asking for shorter runs and for personalisation,” he told PrintWeek.
The company invested £1m earlier this year in digital printing facilities to make its packaging operation faster and more efficient.
“I will say that we are in the process of looking at future investment in terms of digital and packaging, not just in our North Tyneside plant but across Scotland. It will be substantial,” Hewitt said.
“If you look at market growth statistics, commercial print is predicted to contract from 2009 – 2019 while packaging is predicted to grow by 20%. It just makes commercial sense. If you can add value to a product that’s where you should be.”
Hewitt, who has 30 years’ experience in diverse sectors including retail, automative and training, said that one area Elanders was increasingly moving into was taking responsibility for supply chain issues and the production process as well as producing the end-product.
“These very complex commercial print areas we are very good at. They tell us what they are manufacturing, we take control and we take care of it,” he said.
He stressed Elanders had to be quick on the uptake to provide this service. “We have to be prepared to risk obsolescence, we have to be able to change what we print in a couple of hours. Elanders Group is incredibly strong at supporting manufacturers particular at commercial print accounts. We are going to continue to build on that core strength.”
Hewitt, who joined the company as a consultant “to try and reshape the business” said the secret of success was "not rocket science".
“You just have to be the best at what you do. The best way is to follow market trends. This industry does suffer from very low margins so we have to be efficient and we have to keep looking at ways to keep adding value,” he said.
Customer service was also key and he said that Elanders had "absolutely refused" to cut back on customer service to save money.
"Customer service and great people are the key to a great environment in business. We know how to print. The key thing is motivating people to be better than the next company.”
The company recorded a record UK turnover of £23m in 2014 and has 194 staff in Tyneside, Birmingham and Scotland.
Elanders moved into its 8,000sqm North Tyneside headquarters in 1999 with ambitions to almost treble its turnover from £7m. Since this time, the company has invested in people and machinery, including a recent investment of over £1m into its digital printing facilities.
Elanders UK is part of Elanders AB, which is a company with operations in 36 locations worldwide. Elanders Group offers its customers global solutions for print & packaging, supply chain management and e-commerce.
