Progroup and Zeus Packaging Seal Packaging Park Partnership in the UK

At the Ellesmere Port site, Zeus Packaging will in future consolidate a significant share of its UK production volumes, using the existing production hall and converting machinery. A conveyor bridge directly links the converting operation to the corrugated sheetfeeder plant. Production is set to reach a volume of at least 100 million square metres per year and will become Zeus's central production site in the UK.

This means the Progroup site can once again fulfill one of the main roles for which it was originally designed – as an integrated packaging park with a direct link between corrugated sheetboard production and converting.

The packaging park principle – co-locating corrugated sheetboard production and converting – has proven its worth many times over in practice. A stable supply of high-quality corrugated sheetboard, fast converting, greater delivery reliability and a lower product carbon footprint are among the key benefits of an integrated set-up. Short distances accelerate processes, increase manufacturing flexibility and cut logistics costs by eliminating lorry transport between corrugator and converter.

“With Zeus Packaging, we are gaining a high-growth partner for our packaging park. Independently of this, we will of course continue to ensure reliable supply to our other UK customers – our international mill system provides the best possible basis for this,” Vinzenz Heindl, CSO, Progroup AG explained.

“The UK is a strategically important market for us. The close link to the on-site corrugator gives us the security of supply and flexibility our growth in the UK market requires,” saidBrian O’Sullivan, founder and owner of Zeus Packaging.