Liberty Packaging (CONT’D FROM PAGE 1 )
The Liberty Triangle The growth in the Midwest region with the acquisitions in 2016 of Omaha Box in Omaha, Nebraska, and in 2017 of Miller Container in Rock Island, Illinois, is its own success story. Referred to as “The Liberty triangle,” the region in- cludes manufacturing and distribution facilities in Minne- sota, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska and employs more than 500 people. The two acquisitions doubled the business across four corrugators, expanding products and services for a strate- gic customer base. Greg Theis, Vice President of the Mid- west business unit, holds up Omaha Box as an example of the company’s approach and level of commitment to the market. Liberty invested approximately $50 million in a new 335,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility in Omaha as well as new equipment, which included a 98-inch Fos- ber Compact Line corrugator, a 50-inch four-color Isowa Ibis flexo folder-gluer and material handling components from Alliance Machine Systems International. These investments have provided a foundation for considerable growth. Monthly capacity has increased by nearly three times since the investment. “We really didn’t have space for big runs and inventory,” says Ron Kenkel, General Manager of Omaha Box. “With the new machin- ery, improved flow and warehouse we’re able to run larger truckload quantities. The move allowed us to grow with our customers.”
The corrugated plants offer a core set of competencies for industrial and protective packaging, diecuts and RSCs in addition to their own distinct products and services. Their strength is providing innovative designs and com- plex supply chain solutions for customers who may have
larger numbers of SKUs and varying quantities of product or require warehousing and fulfill- ment. “Every one of our plants has certain skill sets that we lever- age across the regions. This has helped us differentiate in all our markets we serve at LDI. Having this footprint is how we
Jack Fiterman
satisfy those customers that have three or four plants in North America,” says Jack Fiterman, LDI Vice President of Business Development. He says Liberty’s niche is “Delivering superior packag- ing solutions that the small players can’t and the giants won’t.” That business model can be traced back to Fiter- man’s grandfather, Ben Fiterman, who started the compa- ny’s first sheet plant in 1940. “He used to say ‘If you take care of your customers and your employees, everything else will take care of itself.’ I think that still holds true to- day.”
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OUR ROBOTIC SOLUTIONS will Speed your Business into the Future
YOUR PARTNER OF CHOICE AUTOSTAK
• Increase Machine Runtime and Efficiency • Handles Multiple Bundle Styles • Reduce Manual Labor • Automated Dunnage and Tie Sheet Feeding • Accepts Strapped and Unstrapped Bundles
WWW.INSPIREAUTOMATION.COM │ INFO@INSPIREAUTOMATION.COM │ 715.341.6501
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June 14, 2021
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