Benson Group in Double Bobst Order

June 2010

Benson Group, one of the UK's leading privately owned carton printers, with headquarters in Bardon, Leicestershire, has ordered two high-speed Bobst Masterfold lines for its Benson Gateshead plant in Gateshead, Tyne & Wear. The lines will replace four existing machines.

Mark Kerridge, Managing Director of Benson Group, said, "Having recently invested in both print and diecutting to release bottlenecks in production at our Gateshead plant we now need to attend to finishing. The folder-gluers at the plant are the oldest in the Group and the strategy behind ordering two new Bobst Masterfold lines is to balance capacity there."

The two lines are Masterfold 75 A1 versions of the folder-gluer, each complete with a Bobst Easyfeeder GT automatic feeder and a Cartonpack GT automatic carton packer for high-speed, reduced labour operation. Together the lines will deliver sufficient production to replace four of the plant's existing folder-gluers and also create additional capacity.

Mark Kerridge said, "Our core market for Gateshead is high volume sleeves and straight-line boxes for food packaging and these machines will be ideal for producing these products. Across the group we have had great success with Bobst Alpina's, the forerunners to the Masterfold, and we expect the same from these new lines. Our Alpina's run at high-speed with great consistency on long runs, twenty-four hours a day, six days a week. It is this mixture of speed and consistency that gives us the production levels we need and we will use the productivity of the new Masterfold lines to help drive organic growth at our Gateshead plant."

The purchase of the machines follows a review of folder-gluer operations at Benson Gateshead by Bobst Group (UK & Ireland) Ltd. Craig Moran, Sales Manager - Folding Carton for Bobst said, "At Bobst we have in-depth knowledge among our UK based staff about the production needs of customers like Benson Group. Lee Alton, our Product Manager for folder-gluers carried out a systematic and highly detailed analysis of the gluing department at Benson Gateshead and recommended the replacement of four existing equipment with two, high speed lines and the re-alignment of folder-gluer bays to create a better workflow. This analysis, informed by the extensive product and production knowledge of someone like Lee, helped Benson Group make this investment decision."

The A1 variant of the Masterfold is a straightline carton version and Benson Group has ordered the machines with a speed upgrade to 700 metres per minute. The lines will be installed in two phases, one machine being installed in the second half of this year and the other during 2011.

About Benson Group

Benson Group is one of the UK's leading privately owned printed carton suppliers, producing packaging product for both the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Headquarters are in Bardon, Leicestershire, where the company owns 130,000 sq ft of production and warehouse space. Benson Group achieves annual sales in excess of £93 million. Food manufacturers are the main customers at Bardon and for the company's two North East facilities in Newcastle and Gateshead. These two sites have a combined total of 200,000 sq ft of manufacturing and warehouse space. The fourth site in Crewe, Medica Packaging, serves pharmaceutical and healthcare companies. It has 73,000 sq ft of manufacturing, warehouse and office space. Since 2000, investment in new plant and equipment across the four sites totals in excess of £25 million.

Benson Group creates packaging for many well-known companies, brands and retailers. Key account clients across the Group include GlaxoSmithKline, Northern Foods, Reckitt Benkiser, Greencore, Bakkavör, Samworth Brothers, and leading supermarket chains.

For further information on the Benson Group visit the www.bensongroup.co.uk web site.

About Bobst Group

Bobst Group is the world's leading supplier of equipment to the packaging industry. Its Business Unit Sheet-fed encompasses the Bobst, Martin, and Asitrade marques and delivers high productivity, value adding equipment to customers in the folding carton, corrugated, and commercial print industries, allowing them to raise productivity, reduce lead times, lower costs, and expand their businesses. The UK operation is based in Redditch, Worcs, where the company has a Training & Resource Centre and after-sales service facilities.

Press Information

For further information on Benson Group, its operations, or on packaging products or packaging issues please contact:

Russell J Hicks

Genesis Marketing Services (Milton Keynes)

29 Foxholes Close,
Deanshanger,
Northamptonshire,
MK19 6HA

Tel/Fax: 01908 260 662
Mobile: 07885 852 428

e-mail: Russ.Hicks@Genesis-Marketing.com

For further information on Bobst Group please contact:

Alistair Smailes

St. Ronan’s Media

Tel: +44 (0)7768 110922
Fax: +44 (0)845 869 6004

e-mail: alistair@stronansmedia.com

Bobst Group (UK & Ireland)

Tel: +44 (0)1527 519710
www.bobstgroup.com/bobst
e-mail: sales.uk@bobstgroup.com