Weener Plastop is on the ball

Message from MarcoNew financial yearbrings a clean slateThe last two years have beenextremely tough, and whilewe’re not out of the woods thereare encouraging signs that theSouth African economy <strong>is</strong> starting toshow improvement. However, politicalinstability in the oil-producing regions ofnorth Africa are likely to have a seriousinfluence on the cost of polymers – ourlargest single production cost.While I’m unable to divulge much in theway of detail, the past financial yearhasn’t been one of our best. In additionto the overall economy we had <strong>is</strong>suesof our own, not least the protractedlabour d<strong>is</strong>pute at East Rand Plastics –our biggest operation and one thatshould be a significant contributor to ourbottom line.The first of March signalled thebeginning of our new financial year,a clean slate from which we canmove forward and build on the strongfoundation we’ve created over thelast two and a half years. Much haschanged in the Group during thattime, and I believe the operations,personnel and structure are betterpositioned to take us to new levels offinancial performance. And financialperformance <strong>is</strong> the bas<strong>is</strong> of how theshareholders – the owners of thebusiness, many of them staff members –will judge us at the end of the day.There are three key areas for everyoneto focus on in the coming financial year,the first being our goal of becomingthe industry’s lowest-cost producerof plastic packaging. And we can allplay a role: our move to Syspro hasenabled us to properly understand theproduction costs of each product wemanufacture; WCM <strong>is</strong> fundamental tomaking our plants efficient; we’ve donea lot to improve energy efficiency andthere’s more to come; and our moveto a continuous shift system <strong>is</strong> ensuringthat our machinery <strong>is</strong> used to its fullproduction capabilities. These are allactions that involve everyone in theGroup and we need to continue toembrace these responsibilities.Our second objective <strong>is</strong> sales growth.In the short term we’re not expectingto purchase any new businesses soth<strong>is</strong> growth must be achieved fromincreasing our market share in thosesectors where we’re active andsecuring new projects. The RigidsDiv<strong>is</strong>ion has been particularly effectivein building growth through new projectsand th<strong>is</strong> must be replicated by Flexiblesin the future.The third key focus must be oninnovation. It’s innovation that willseparate us from our competitors; wemust move away from being sellers ofcommodity products that only allowyou to sell on price: we MUST sell onthe VALUE we bring. The work beingdone by Peninsula Packaging <strong>is</strong> mostencouraging (see story on page 9) andan example of how their knowledge ofthe fruit market, together with technicalinput from s<strong>is</strong>ter company Knilam, hasopened doors in the broader freshproducesector.In tough times we’ve continuedto spend on equipment to ensurewe’re capable of competing on theinnovation and lowest-cost fronts. Inthe 18 months ending th<strong>is</strong> Decemberwe’ll have invested in the region ofR200 million in plant and equipment. Wenow need to use these assets to theirmaximum capability.Looking forward, I believe we’repo<strong>is</strong>ed for greater things. The localand international economies are inrecovery mode. We’ve made significantstructural changes to the Group andeffected changes at managementlevel, and are now in a better positionto maxim<strong>is</strong>e the opportunities that willar<strong>is</strong>e over the next year. It will still takethe committed effort of every personin our more than 4 200-strong team butit can be done. Let’s work together inthe year ahead to position Astrapakjust as our m<strong>is</strong>sion statement says: Tobe South Africa’s preferred supplier ofplastic packaging in whatever marketsor market segments we’ve chosen.Kind regardsMarcoASTRAPAK NEWS3