Project profile: Film producer rewrites script with new site

Who Bpi.films
Aim To increase capacity
Spend £10m
What Two new five-layer extrusion lines
When Production began April 2009
Targets UK and export markets

Challenge
Bpi.films wanted to increase its production capacity for industrial films. The company’s Leominster, Herefordshire factory makes film for stretch wrapping pallets, agricultural silage film and its Wrapsmartultra low-gauge hand roll film.

The firm decided to build a 2,000sqm extension to its Leominster site. The scale of the building, which stands 60m tall, meant the firm had to put together a comprehensive application for planning permission. “The site is so big the RAF uses it as a sighting point for turning left into Wales. But we’re a big employer for the area so the council was very supportive,” says managing director David Pendlebury.

Strategy
Bpi invested in two five-layer extrusion lines, comprising American extrusion machines, German winders and UK supplied robotics equipment. In total, the company spent £10m. “The idea, moving forward, is that the factory could almost run in the dark, because the robots put everything together,” explains Pendlebury.

The new machines give Bpi greater film consistency. “We’re essentially buying phenomenally good gauge control. When we make a 25-micron film, it is 25 microns with very small tolerances, produced at very high speed. This enables us to get the best return per hour from the investment,” he says.

A new pre-stretch machine was also bought, which is used to produce Wrapsmartultra – a seven-micron film that performs like a 14-micron product. Wrapsmartultra is sold to supermarkets and transport companies that use it to hand-wrap pallets. Supermarkets, for instance, receive large deliveries to central distribution centres. These are divided up into smaller batches and hand wrapped. The thinner gauge means more film will fit on each roll, which cuts down the number of deliveries, as well as reducing the amount of waste.

Implementation
It took around 18 months to build, install and customise the machinery to exacting specifications. “When trying to combine American, German and UK-supplied machines, getting them all to talk to each other takes a while,” says Pendlebury. The site was up and running by April, and is now working around the clock.

The lines are all computer operated, which means the machinery manufacturers can dial in from around the world and remotely diagnose any problems. “It’s fascinating being told by someone in the US to go to the top of the machine and check in this spot,” he says.

The new lines have also created 12 new jobs at the site. “We recruited them three months ahead and trained them up on our existing machinery and then converted them over to the new lines,” says Pendlebury.

Results
Bpi.films has increased its capacity for seven-micron up to 25-micron films by 40% – this equates to around 11,000 tonnes of film, depending on the gauge. This has given it the capacity to export film all over the world. “I’m dead happy that the pound is down at the moment, it makes such a difference to exporting. We’re supposed to manufacture our way out of this recession, and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” says Pendlebury.

Bpi is targeting new and existing clients with its extra capacity and new low-gauge films. “We’re not like a building society that only offers its new products to new customers. If we can convert existing customers to new products it makes us less vulnerable to the competition,” he adds.

The company is now developing an 18-micron agricultural film. The thinner gauge means more film for the same size and weight of reel. “Farmers don’t like getting out of their tractor and having to change the roll of film. Fewer changes means he can wrap more bales of hay per hour,” he explains.

Pendlebury says that some have questioned the wisdom of investing in the UK. However, he is confident that with the right product and cutting-edge equipment, it is exactly the right thing to do. 

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