Faced with the welcome ‘problem’ of surging orders, Packserv Australia is taking a novel approach in expanding its facilities.
After years of neglect, the much-publicised efforts to bring manufacturing back to Australian shores are now going full steam ahead. However, for many companies, a dramatic increase in orders is creating a whole new set of problems, with managers left staring at the ceiling through the wee small hours of the night as they wrangle those problems. If this sounds familiar, take comfort in the thought you are not alone.
Since it was founded in 2007, Packserv Australia has established itself as a leading provider of packaging machinery and technical services. With headquarters in Marrickville, NSW, the company manufactures a range of high-quality packaging equipment including machines for volumetric filling, capping and container-handling functions. Packserv is proud to be an Australian manufacturer, certified by the Australian Made Campaign.
Packserv Australia was on a healthy growth path before the COVID pandemic struck, with the introduction of a new range of machinery, but recently that growth has changed beyond all expectations. This has created a headache of the best type for Nathan Wardell, Managing Director at Packserv.
“We moved to larger premises 18 months ago to address our scaling-up of operations,” he explains. “That move was meant to meet our needs for the next five years. Instead, even after almost doubling our floor space again with the addition of a mezzanine floor, we are still packed in like sardines in a can.”
It’s certainly not a unique problem for manufacturers, so how is Wardell planning to tackle it?
“Well, we are adopting a ‘go hard or go home approach’. We are currently looking at the acquisition of a factory of 3,000sqm, which is what we realistically need if we aren’t to find ourselves with this same predicament in 12 months’ time.
“Problem 1: there are no such properties available in the locality, which means we are looking at locations outside of Sydney. Problem 2: our manufacturing team are experts at what they do in a very specialised niche product area – can I realistically ask them to add a three-hour commute to their working day?”
As the saying goes, ‘necessity is the mother of invention’, and the solution to Packserv’s problems is certainly a very novel approach as Wardell explains further.
“We already had a great working relationship with several universities, particularly UTS (University of Technology Sydney). We’re looking at creating a new factory that not only meets our production requirements but houses the very latest manufacturing technology and equipment.”
Delivered by Packserv’s engineers and supported by the UTS Centre for Advanced Manufacturing, the new site is expected to create more than 30 new jobs: “We’re looking to create a facility that combines the very latest knowledge, consistently updated, that will meet not only Packserv’s needs, but also be available to businesses from all over Australia, that will enhance the whole community in which it sits, and will attract interest and skills from around the globe.”
As Wardell puts it: “Go hard or go home.”
Read the article in Industry Update Website here