Company Report: Robinson Plc
Robinson Plc Having maintained revenue levels for 2008, Robinson Plc is on track to a bright future. Manufacturing Digital discovers the secret to its survival

Robinson Plc was established in 1839

Robinson Plc is on track to a bright future

Plastic and paperboard packaging manufacturer Robinson is something of a success story in today’s down economy, especially as most UK manufacturers struggle to cope with the sudden loss of credit. Indeed, following a two-year restructuring programme, Robinson is now fighting fit, achieving steady results.

Nothing out of the ordinary there you might think, even if it is a bit rare in the current market. However, CEO Adam Formela recently told Manufacturing Digital that the firm, which has maintained 2008 revenues in line with 2007, at £25.5 million, has increased overseas operations revenues by a whopping 82 percent to £6 million. “Overseas business now accounts for 23 percent of group income,” he explains. This increase, says Formela, is a result of the continuing migration of customers’ businesses to Central Europe, where they take advantage of the Robinson injection moulding plant in Lodz, Poland.

The question is, how did Formela see this coming and should others follow suit?

“How are we performing?” ask Formela, 49, who assumed the role of CEO just two years ago. “It’s a good question. When I came into the group we were a business that was struggling to make money retaining its position in the market. So what we have done over the last two years is some fairly significant business reengineering, to ensure that our cost base is appropriate for our size and that we have realistic aspirations as to the profit levels that the market will allow.

“Everyone knows that packaging is a tough industry to be in, but we are performing well, improving our margins and profitability consistently.

“How are we doing this? Well, first you need to understand the fundamentals,” he continues. “Essentially, we wanted to be more efficient, doing more with less but without compromising quality or service. Historically, we have enjoyed, and still enjoy, the custodianship of several global brand owners, like Nestle or Procter & Gamble, but I found we were doing a little bit with quite a lot and what we needed to do was improve our relationships with those key customers; under¬stand better where their strategic development will lead them and how we could assist them in doing that.

“Understanding and then anticipating the trends within those customer requirements allowed us to be more focused in our strategic investments to provide more relevance to them. That is why we opened our facility in Poland.”

Customers, it seems, are migrating to Central Europe in droves and in anticipating this trend Robinson is reaping the rewards.

Formela adds: “We were historically very good, in fact best in class, on a national basis; but if you are only in the UK, you can be the best in the world, but that isn’t going to cut it from a global procurement perspective. Therefore, it was critical for us to get a foothold in Central Europe, which is the developing and key market focus for some of our major customers. “We’re now seen by our customers as a legitimate regional player and preferred supplier, rather than a distinctive national player,” he explains.

That decision to go into Poland was driven by a better under-standing of what international customers were looking for, it seems.

On top of this, Robinson has put greater emphasis on innovation, to get under the skin of what customers and the industry needs.

“My belief is that innovation gives us a distinct advantage,” says Formela. “We have a real passion for it and work in partnership with a whole host of people - brand owners, their marketing, technical and R&D teams, leading packaging designers, institutions, and paper and print suppliers - to come up with something different, which adds value. Our approach to innovation is clear; we identify the needs and develop a solution.”

2009 has started with evidence of growth in both sales and margins. Formela expects profit-ability to improve further: “Frankly, we are a small business - £26 million pound turnover - and when you are that size and operate in the market we operate in, we are a minnow in brand share terms. The market, therefore, could halve and it still wouldn’t be a reason as to why we shouldn’t be able to grow. “In an economic climate like the one we are in, what tends to happen is that there is a shake out; where the better run businesses profit at the expense of those who are taking more risks, or are operating in a more traditional methodology, and cannot adapt in the tough conditions that we are in.

“We have taken the pain and initiative of doing our reengineering over the last couple of years, so we are pretty well placed now,” he concludes. “Some businesses, which are much bigger than us, flounder and as our customers move away from sole supply arrangements to duel supply arrangements, companies such as ourselves that have got evidence of providing new and different things, react in a flexible way and remain competitive, I think are well placed to benefit.”

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