Visy expands corrugated box operations in Queensland
Visy will significantly expand its corrugated box making operations in Queensland with the construction of a new $60 million Visy Board box factory on a greenfield site near Yatala, outside Brisbane.
Construction of the new factory, to be built on a recently purchased 13- hectare site, will begin next month with start-up expected by July 2006. It will create 60 new permanent jobs plus about 180 jobs during the 11-month construction phase.
With an initial capacity of 50,000 tonnes per annum, the new factory will complement Visy Board’s existing facility at Carole Park west of Brisbane, which is at capacity due to Visy’s strong growth in the Queensland market.
The Carole Park facility is already Visy’s largest output plant in Australia and will be augmented with a new $5 million warehouse to be constructed as part of Visy’s Queensland expansion.
The new Yatala facility is the 4th box plant to be built by Visy in Australasia over the past 10 years.
It has been designed along the same modular lines previously incorporated into Visy’s Wodonga and Auckland box factories, both of which have undergone significant expansion since their initial construction in 2003 and 1996 respectively.
Visy is currently constructing the second stage of its Wodonga box plant at a cost of $18 million following the $50 million first stage reaching capacity after just 2.5 years. It has also recently installed new generation finishing equipment at its plants in WA, SA, VIC and NSW.
The new Yatala facility will feature the highest levels of automation, robotics and process control systems available to the corrugated packaging industry worldwide.
The initial stage will incorporate an advanced corrugator line and four high volume finishing machines in a highly automated layout.
Low cost and advanced technology will be key features with an emphasis on manufacturing flexibility and customer service.
Visy CEO, Harry Debney said the facility was required because of Visy’s success in continuously growing its Queensland customer base through high standards of service, cost efficiency and innovation.
“Visy has a great deal of confidence about the future of our Queensland operations which are among our best performing businesses. We have enjoyed strong support from our Queensland customer base and this investment reflects our ongoing strategy of continual innovation and expansion to meet the needs of our Queensland customers,” he said.
2-Sep-2005