Winpak doubles down

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This article was published 20/09/2016 (3283 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winpak Ltd. has added a massive new production line at its main Winnipeg manufacturing facility that will enable the plant to more than double its production of a certain type of plastic-packaging material and boost annual revenue by more than $50 million.

The $25-million, state-of-the-art extrusion line is the largest of its kind in the company’s operations, which includes 10 production plants in Canada, the United States and Mexico.

Dave Johns, president of the company’s Winpak Division in Winnipeg, said it has taken nearly 18 months to install the new line, which should be in commercial production in the next month.

He said it’s not only a lot bigger, it’s also more sophisticated than any of the other extrusion lines in the Winnipeg plant.

It will produce high-barrier plastic film that’s used in the packaging of perishable food products such as meat, seafood and cheese.

Winpak president and CEO Bruce Berry said last year that once it’s fully operational, the new line is expected to boost the company’s revenue by an estimated $50 million to $60 million per year.

Johns said 10 new workers have already been hired to work on the new line.

They’re among a total of 75 new employees that have been hired in the last 18 months at the main Winnipeg plant.

Located at 100 Saulteaux Cres., the plant boasts a staff of more than 700. The company’s much smaller American Biaxis Inc. plant, also located at 100 Saulteaux, employs about 50 people.

Because there is no room to add on to the main plant, Johns said Winpak had to convert some warehouse space in the existing facility into production space and install the new line there.

The warehousing was moved off site, he added.

The extrusion-line expansion, which cost $28 million when the cost of ancillary equipment is included, is one of four expansion projects the company has on the go this year.

The others are a 350,000-square-foot addition to its rigid-container plant in Sauk Village, Ill., an 85,000-square-foot expansion at its shrink-bag production plant in Senoia, Ga., and the installation of another different type of extrusion line at the Winnipeg plant.

That latter project will get underway in the fourth quarter of this year and will take about a year to complete.

It will cost between $5 million and $7 million, Johns said, and will enable the plant to increase its production of some other types of plastic-packaging materials.

This year is shaping up as another good year for Winpak, which began in operations in 1977 with a single production plant in Winnipeg.

Net income for the first six months was up 4.9 per cent, climbing to $51.7 million, or 80 cents per share.

That performance included the second most profitable second-quarter in its history.

In its Q2 financial report, which was released in July, the company said it was also optimistic about its prospects for the second half of the year.

Because of its solid financial position, it’s also remains on the lookout for potential new acquisitions, it added.

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca