Independent II (CONT’D FROM PAGE 1)
“What we had was a company that was growing quickly in a very compressed footprint for converting and incom- ing sheets, which made it a very challenging environment in which to manufacture boxes,” says Finn MacDonald. “We could get machinery in but we couldn’t ‘turn it up.’ We found we were putting more time and frustration into getting the job done than what would be needed if we had a new facility.” This “eye-opening” moment for MacDonald opened a two-year window – coincidentally, when the lease on In- dependent II’s existing facility was due to expire – for him to begin the search for land on which the company would build a new facility or purchase or lease one. MacDonald
made the decision to invest in a brand new facility two blocks from its existing location, which turned out to be as brilliant as it was fortuitous. Then came an 18-month transi- tion period of pre-planning, aligning vendors, purchasing equipment, installing equipment, and finally, moving all but one piece of machinery from the old building to the new one. The fact that the new plant was less than a minute from the old one made the move even more logistically and financially feasible. “Our goal was to install the new machinery in the new building and then start moving one piece at a time, one machine per week,” says Anthony Jennings, Independent II’s Plant Manager. “With our lease running out on the old building and construction underway on the new one, we had to be aggressive and were forced to maintain a tight timeline. Of course, there were hurdles along the way, but we managed to stay on track for months when we were operating out of both facilities. We also needed to make sure our customers didn’t feel any pain.” Indeed, the close proximity of the facilities allowed In- dependent II to maintain its workforce without disrupting transportation for the company’s 120 employees, 75 of whom worked in production. Moving equipment from the old facility and adding two new high-speed flexo lines to the new one required hiring 10-15 production employees. A view of the expansive production floor and multiple flexo lines in Independent II’s new 340,000-square-foot facility.
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www.boardconvertingnews.com
September 18, 2023
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