With over 80 years of engineering experience, this Brisbane firm provides packaging solutions across a wide range of industries
Written by Militza Richard & Produced by Carolyn Wiggins
Founded in 1926 as general engineering firm R.L. Windsor & Son Pty Ltd, Fibre King Pty Ltd is now a world-leading manufacturer of packaging machinery. With many awards from the Australian Packaging Machinery Association and one from the state government for an innovative plastic crates program, Fibre King takes pride in providing solutions to their customers’ packaging requirements.
Drawing on a background in the timber industry, the company produced its first packaging machine in 1957. However, by the 1980s, the company decided to change its focus to reflect the changing industry.
Fibre King produced its first automatic palletizer in 1994. A huge success, the machine had less than a two-year payback, and the company soon had a 12-month waiting list.
Fifteen years later, Fibre King has developed more than 200 machines that are sold across industries and across the globe. Their range of products includes packers, palletizers, crate equipment, robotics and ancillary materials handling equipment.
EXPANDING MARKETS
Already actively trading in China, India, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, South Africa and New Zealand for industries ranging from food and beverage to household items with clients such as Coca-Cola and Colgate, Fibre King plans continued expansion into new geographic areas and new industries.
“We do some work with petrochemicals for the oil industry,” says Earle Roberts, CEO. The company has also entered the pharmaceutical industry. In fact, Fibre King is already providing machines to huge industry players like Wyeth. “The quality requirements are high for the pharmaceutical market,” explains Roberts. “That indicates what level we are working at.”
The company has also begun branching into packaging machinery for the meat industry, particularly in Brazil. “Our goal is to take the discipline we developed from working with big firms and apply it to the meat and fresh produce markets which have traditionally been more agricultural,” says Roberts.
This includes utilizing new tracing technology in their machines. “Traceability is very important in the meat industry,” explains Roberts. “If there is a problem with the meat, the client must be able to trace it back to its source. “
The company also uses technology to access equipment for maintenance and to diagnose faults within control systems. “We go to all of the major packaging shows,” says Roberts, adding the company also goes to shows outside of their industry to “see what other industries are doing and keep on the leading edge of developments.”
Keeping this edge is vital for Fibre King. As a full service company — designing, building and maintaining their own machines — Fibre King continually offers customers the best service with innovative machinery, no matter what the industry.
In fact, Roberts says the company’s many services and cross-industry operations, have insulated them from economic downturns. “As traditional markets have gone a bit quiet, others have been picking up,” he says. The company had record growth over the past year, with a record income and high revenues to match. “The shareholders were very happy,” adds Roberts.
RETURN CRATES
Always on the lookout for innovations, Fibre King recently expanded into the returnable plastic crate market. Supermarkets such as Coles and Woolworths use crates to transport food. Switching from corrugate crates to reusable plastic crates made from recycled materials benefits the environment. However, the switch also means that the supermarkets need to erect, clean and de-erect the crates with every use.
That’s where Fibre King comes in. Working with Coles Supermarket, they developed a machine to erect the crates and significantly cut down on man-hours. “In August of 2005 we began developing a prototype. By December we were running tests, and it was out on the line by January 2006,” says Roberts.
Following their success in the Australian market, Fibre King is expanding into the international returnable crates market, especially in the US, which already uses the crates but assembles and disassembles them by hand. After modifying their machine to work with US crates, Fibre King installed their first machine in the US last year, with two more installations following soon after.
In addition to helping other companies go green, Fibre King is also environmentally friendly within its own operations. “We have been offsetting emissions from air travel, our vehicles, and our electric usage since 2007,” says Roberts. “And we reduced water consumption by 55 percent over the past couple of months.”
PROMISING EMPLOYEES
Fibre King takes pride in its innovative strategies, recognizing that this creativity comes from its employees. Its 50 employees average 11 years of service with an average age of only 38, a high level of experience for such a young group.
The company also supports employees who want to develop expertise in more than one area with their Persons of Promise program. “It doesn’t matter where you are in the company if you have the right attitude and you work hard,” says Roberts of the program which allows employees of move around within the company and be promoted.
Additionally, Fibre King is “very active in supporting staff in their studies” says Roberts. They put young draftsman though their engineering courses and will support employees as they seek higher education, meaning that every employee has the chance to reach management status no matter where they begin in the company.
Roberts himself is the perfect example of this. He began working for the company part time while he got his degree in Mechanical Engineering and Business Marketing. He came on board full time as a designer right after graduating. For the next 15 years, he moved around the company, working in sales and eventually becoming the sales and marketing manager and later the marketing director. He was offered the position of CEO four years ago, and believes his diverse experience and the opportunity to continue his studies greatly contributed to his success.
FACTS at a Glance:
Company Name: Fibre King Pty Ltd
CEO: Earle Roberts
Operations: End of Line Packaging Solutions
Established: 1926
Employees: 50
www.fibreking.com
View Digital Corporate Profile of FibreKing in Manufacturing Digital February 2010