Page 41 - Food & Drink Business August 2018

The delivery of high- performing customer service has been a key design focus with this new building. All customer-facing staff will now have easy access to technical and back-of-house support staff with the open plan format and the use of technology.
“The larger modern workshop and warehouse space will allow us to more efficiently satisfy customers’ needs as well as being able to receive and dispatch stock faster due to
the streamlined workflow
and easy access to the Eastlink freeway,” he says.
Suppliers, in turn, will benefit by having a modern regional centre to display and promote their products and services.
SPECIALISED FACILITIES
The new premises have a number of special features, among them an on-site dedicated ink and solvents hazardous goods storage facility.
“The upper deck front facade of our warehouse has been built using transparent cladding to allow plenty of natural light into the workshop and warehouse areas throughout the day,” Dingley says.
Matthews has also built a cleanroom style workshop specifically designed for quality control and servicing of printers and other emerging technologies. Dedicated purpose-built laser and R&D areas form part of the technical workshop area with product training and demonstration areas for staff and customers also a feature of the design.
GROWTH PROSPECTS
An investment of this size reflects the company’s confidence in the business’s growth prospects and its position in the Australian market. Commenting on his vision for growing Matthews share in the coding, labelling and identification market, Dingley says: “Matthews has always been and will continue to be known for its innovation, high levels of customer service and technical product expertise. Our future growth will be built on the foundations of the strong
“Some of the best ideas in our business are first discussed in shared collaborative spaces.”
customer and supplier relationships we have spent decades building.
“While we are very proud of our new building, it is a physical representation of the hard work and commitment to excellence of Matthews’ staff over many decades.
“My vision is to continue to build on that success while the business evolves through innovative technologies and thought leadership. By staying close to our valued customers nationally, we will be able to identify demands and trends early, which creates a competitive edge within our business,” he continues.
“Our agile product development methodology then converts this feedback into a
commercial platform; examples of this can be seen in our Visions Systems and Serialisation technologies.
“We’ve built a formula here that is proven to work well and I’m excited to see what we can deliver over the coming years,” Dingley says.
And finally, no article on Matthews would be complete without a comment from the well-known industry icon and founder of the business Lester Nichol, who says: “I would like to take this opportunity to say ‘thank you’ to our valued staff, customers and suppliers. Being a family business, we truly value the individual commitments and contributions made by each of these groups over the years. We are all in a period of rapid change and increased automation. Various traditional technologies and methodologies are being challenged so we must commit ourselves to remaining informedandrelevant.” ✷
ABOVE & FAR LEFT: Matthews’ new facility includes open plan workspaces and modern warehouse. The design has maximised natural light and provided room for the company’s expansion.
LEFT: Company founder and chairman Lester Nichol (left) with CEO Mark Dingley at the new site in Scoresby.
LABELLING, CODING & MARKING
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