Alliance Packaging (CONT’D FROM PAGE 20)
probably a larger undertaking than when we installed our second corrugator three years ago.” The Renton facility that houses Alliance’s newest cap- ital investment employs 150 who work swing shifts: two 10-hour shifts Monday through Thursday and one 12-hour shift on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. While product varies by division – approximately 25 salespeople blanket Alli- ance’s Northwest footprint – here in Renton, says Leland,
dustry is embracing. But Alliance didn't need or want a 66- 99 machine, they wanted one with two 99-inch cylinders. Because the cylinder can disengage, they can be running a non-die-cut job while setting up die cuts for the next job. They think that’s great.” Leland also appreciates the Engico’s upper and lower counter ejector. He says, “I've never seen anything like it. We have a down stacker, but we can convert that to a bun- dle conveyor that’s elevated through a strapper. It’s not easy to get a permit from the City of Renton for elevated structures because of seismic activity, but if we’re running center seam boxes, we can run those through the load former or through the upper section to a load former and rotate the boxes so we have a stable load. None of that’s available on any of the other machines we looked at.” Jumbo And More Having the first “true” 99-inch by 216-inch jumbo in- stalled in North America – every other Engico in the US is a 66/99-inch by 188-inch and is called a dual-size ma- chine – exemplifies Alliance’s “Go Big” philosophy, but the purchase of the jumbo is only the latest in a series of in- vestments: the company has installed approximately $70 million worth of capital machinery into the corporation in the last seven years. “For a small company that employs about 500 people, that’s major,” says Leland. “The installa- tion of the material handling systems and the machine was
“We try to do everything ‘value-added.’ We run a lot of brown boxes, but we also do a lot of multi-color, specialty folder, and two- and three-pass items, too.” About 12 years ago, the company invested in a plate making machine so that it could have its plates quicker, an initiative that has resulted in cost savings as well as an additional revenue stream. Alliance consumes only 40 Finished sheets off the jumbo, ready for converting and ship- ping to Amazon and a host of other customers.
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