Productive gluer needed

For Waseema Packaging, their customers' main demands are for bright, attractive four and six corner sweet and bakery boxes, often with windows, as well as a variety of crash locks for chicken products. It is this latter market which now provides the bulk of Waseema Packaging's workload and which prompted the company to go looking for additional folding and gluing capacity.
"We've cultivated a lot of high volume crash lock accounts," explains Waseem Akhtar, who now runs the company alongside his father naseem. "The type of work forces you to run at high net speeds if you are going to make a margin on it. On top of that, we had been outsourcing a lot of four and six-corner gluing and to a certain extent you lose control and flexibility when you do that."

The search for a gluer led to PRUPA and to time spent looking at what the main manufacturers had to offer. "If I'm honest we weren't initially thinking in terms of a Bobst," recalls Mr Akhtar. "BUt at DRUPA the launched the Fuego range and we soon realized that it could do everything we need at a price no one else's seemed to be able to match."

As a small company, service backup was an important factor in the purchasing decision and Waseem is particularly effusive about the after-sales service he has received from Bobst Group in the UK. "More often than not, when we need help it's a production issue and i know we can get an answer quickly over the phone or, at worst, someone will visit the next day."

But even Bobst's most experienced specialists were a little apprehensive about tackling some of the Waseema Packaging range of work. "We have some really tricky jobs. One in particular is a big wobbly six corner with a huge window. Lee Alton, the Bobst Product Support Manager for foldgluers who guided us through the purchase process and did the training, said it was the most difficult carton he's ever set up, and he says he has seen some shockers in his time. We thought if they can get this one going through the Fuego it will handle anything. They did and it can."

The model chosen by Waseema Packaging was a 11cm wide version and was the first at this width to be installed in the UK, reflecting the size of some of the bakery and fast-food cartons that the company produces. The gluer's Computer Set faculty allows the operators to store details of job on the machines CUBE system and download them to digital position indicators on each carrier. "All we have to do then is wind them until the indicator shows the carrier is in the right spot," says Mr Akhtar. This system reduces make-readly times and contributes to the fast production times that the company prides itself on. "We can turn around jobs just like this," says Mr Akhtar, clicking his fingers . "For some of our work the Fuego has taken 50 per cent of the time taken to produce the job, so it really helps our customers get their products to market more quickly."
Unusually for such niche markets, a significant amount of the company's production is destined for export to the US and Europe. This is a reflection of the continued expansion of some of Waseema's sweet manufacturer customers into those markets, and of the close relationship between them. "the languages change, but the head offices keep sending us the work. They want us to keep taking the pain out of their purchasing, "explains Mr Akhtar.

Own brand boxes

As well as establishing itself by supplying packaging to sweet, bakery and fast-food retailers, the company has exploited the potential of un-franchised fast-food shops. Its Tender 'n' Taste range of chicken boxes and chip scoops was initially sold direct to shops but volumes have increased so much that the company now sell exclusively through five specialist wholesalers. To ensure that this range is always available to its customers the company has established a storage depot inn the East-End of London from which it distributes stock. Conscious that it is no use having the goods if you cannot deliver them reliably, they also have their own delivery vehicles which they expect to compliment with a heavy goods vehicle later in the year.

Low overheads

listening to the enthusiasm with which Mr Akhtar talks about the business, it is surprising to discover that he had not intended to become part of the family business, instead planning a career in Mechanical Engineering. But in 1999, after a brief taste of working at the company, he realized that running a firm was in his blood and he soon took over complete responsibility for production. His engineers attitude, combined with the skills he gained while achieving an MBA, have stood him in good stead. "It helps if you can understand in detail the processes and equipment you are using. But equally, if you are going to get the most our of them, you need to be able to have open lines of communication with your staff, "he says.