Visy Board New Zealand has commenced expansion of its local capacity with a $100M investment on an 8.5ha site at Hamilton Airport.
Andrew Gleason, general manager for Visy Board New Zealand, says, “A growing focus on export supply chains associated with food processing, fruit and produce, meat and dairy products has provided the impetus to Visy Board New Zealand’s expansion in the New Zealand market. This advanced, new plant is designed with our customer base in mind and enables us to be local and focused, providing the best quality and cost effective corrugated packaging for our customers.”
The company says the new facility will deliver a significant increase in capacity and capability so that Visy Board can support the vibrant growth of their customers. Mark De Wit, chief operating officer at Visy, says, “Up to 75 new jobs will be created for the local region. Working with the Waipa Council we have ensured the impact to the local community will be positive and deliver growth to the Waikato region.”
The Visy Board Corrugating facility in Wiri Auckland has grown since its founding in 1997 and has now reached capacity. Visy says it has a commitment to continue investment in New Zealand with the growth in the economy requiring the accelerated establishment of an additional new plant. In the last year Visy has invested $20M at the existing Wiri site including a corrugator upgrade, installation of a new five-colour Gopfert Diecutter and a new Emba 245 Flexo Folder Gluer which has enhanced the capacity and quality of the existing plant.
These investments in New Zealand reflect Visy’s confidence in the growth and performance of the market. John Savery, sales manager for Visy Board New Zealand, says, “We have enjoyed the strong support of our customer base over the past 20 years and this investment highlights our strategy to deliver innovation and capacity to meet the needs of our customers.”
Waipa Mayor Jim Mylchreest reacted with delighted to the news and welcomes Visy Board to the district. He says, “The Visy development will fit in perfectly with the existing technology hub at the Airport and joins a variety of other international organisations that are making the most of this location. As a Council, we welcome developments such as this. Our teams have worked closely with Visy Board to make sure the development could happen. Being one of the biggest factories in our district, the facility is definite proof that Waipa is open for business.”
Other Visy packaging offerings in New Zealand include the Charta Specialised Packaging facilities based in Auckland and Wellington, the Visy Recycling Materials Recovery facility in Auckland, the recently expanded Visy Beverage Aluminium Can plant and the Visy Plastics plant both also in Auckland.
