News

Having been drawn out of retirement to head up corrugated specialist Encase, John Lowe is going up against the sector's big-time operators, with the help of some familiar faces. Jill Park reports

For someone who was supposed to be retired and working in his garden, John Lowe is a busy man. The managing director of corrugated manufacturer and converter Encase was tempted back to the industry for “one final crack” in March 2007 and is making a name for the £40m-turnover company, owned by Canadian Overseas Packaging Industries (COPI).

“Almost all of the new Encase team have worked together before,” says Lowe, who has gathered many former Linpac colleagues around him. Lowe himself was a casualty of the DS Smith acquisition in 2004 of Linpac, leaving the company eventually in December 2006. It was a bittersweet end to his 40 years with Linpac, where he started on the shop floor and left as operations director.

“When I joined Encase, I realised there were lots of holes and lack of experience,” says Lowe. Limited time meant that he wanted people who could “hit the floor running”, which is what the 20-odd new junior and senior recruits have done. “We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and everyone has been able to contribute from their first day in the business,” he says.

This has been helped by the ‘It’s only a box’ training course for customers and staff alike. “When people have been working for some time in the industry or they buy an industry’s products, they find it hard to admit that they don’t know all they should when they make decisions,” explains Lowe. The course fills in these gaps with information about the latest materials, designs, printing techniques, prototyping and eco-benefits of corrugated.

Spending plans
Investment is an integral part of Lowe’s plan. Fresh from a budget meeting as he speaks to Packaging News, he is cautious about revealing his plans, but he admits that Encase will invest money across its three sites in Banbury, Leeds and East Kilbride in Scotland.

Recent investments at the Banbury site have included a fanfold corrugator, engineered in-house, in October 2007 – Encase is one of two fanfold suppliers in the UK – and a Duran Makina multipoint gluer, used for retail-ready packaging (RRP) production and installed in December.

Encase has also installed a large two-piece Sodeme stitcher used to make industrial packaging at the Leeds site, where Lowe is based. “Our equipment is good, we just have less of it than our largest competitors so we can match service with the best in the industry,” says Lowe.

Design has also been a focus for funds. In February, Encase opened its same-day packaging design service at its Test Drive Centre at the Leeds plant.

Growing demand for RRP accounts for the largest part of Encase’s business, but it is “searching out” new large-format business from the assembly, engineering and automotive industries where it can “deliver more”, adds Lowe.
As a smaller company, Lowe says Encase can make decisions quicker  and is not burdened by the same bureaucracy as its larger competitors.

Tough competition
Lowe says Encase has eight major competitors in the UK, including DS Smith, Mondi, Smurfit Kappa and SCA among the “big boys”. Flexibility is paramount to compete and stopping a production line is not an option, according to Lowe. “Requirements change rapidly and we must react as fast to meet changed demand,” he says. “With eight rivals, complacency is not an option.”

The company holds a 3% share of the market, but Lowe admits it needs to be a bigger player. “Our first task was to make more out of what we have and there is much going on to achieve that, but our wish is to expand to have about 10% of the market,” he says.

None of this would have been possible without the backing of COPI. The privately owned Canadian company also has operations in the Caribbean and East Africa. Lowe himself is planning a trip to COPI’s Kenyan facility to share information.

It was this “in it for the long haul” philosophy and family-run character of the business that first drew Lowe to the role. So it seems unlikely that he will be returning to his garden anytime soon. “I see so much potential it’s hard sometimes to be patient, but we will move forward as fast as we can without risking the goodwill of all those who work with us.” ¦

A year of change

January 2007 John Lowe approached to become new managing director of Encase

March 2007 John Lowe joins Encase
as managing director

September 2007 The company is rebranded and a new website is launched

October 2007 New Sodeme stitcher- gluer arrives at Leeds. New equipment on corrugator to produce fanfold in Banbury

November 2007 First ‘It’s only a box’ training sessions across all three sites. EcoWall goes into production

December 2007 Duran multipoint gluer arrives in Banbury

January 2008 Scott Alexander joins as general manager of East Kilbride site

March 2008 Test Drive Centre in Leeds officially opened