Page 80 - Packaging News Magazine Nov-Dec2020

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PROFILE | PKN 60 YEARS SPECIAL
Currie Group
With more than 70 years in busi- ness, Currie Group has been able to draw on its vast experi- ence to weather the Covid era and ensure its customers have been able to continue to receive best-in-class service and solutions.
As PKN Packaging News celebrates its 60th anniversary, industry supplier Currie Group itself hit a major milestone last year, achieving 70 years in business. And, like PKN, it was founded in a different era and has evolved over time. Today it is the biggest single supplier of machin- ery to the labels and packaging space in ANZ.
Beginning as a printing engineering service organisation, Currie Group grew with commer- cial print for the first half century of its existence, always with a focus on quality and service. It understood from the get-go that print business owners could not wait around for service. It also understood that supplying best-in-class solu- tions was going to create a loyal customer base, as those customers used that equipment to grow their own client bases through providing the highest-quality jobs on schedule.
Then at the turn of this century, Currie Group took on the ANZ agency for the innova- tive HP Indigo digital press range. Part of that
range was the digital label press. Mark Daws, director – Labels & Packaging at Currie Group says: “We saw the potential of the HP Indigo for the label market, with its quality print, in short runs, variable data, and established the Labels & Packaging division at Currie Group, a move that has evidently been warmly wel- comed by the market.”
It was around 2008 that Currie Group insti- gated a greater impetus in labels and packag- ing. Daws now heads up that side of the business.
He says: “HP Indigo launched the HP Indigo 6000 range, which set a new benchmark in digital label printing, our move was based on that, and the experience we had gained.
“Since then we have invested in labels and packaging, brought industry experts onto the team, followed our strategy of only supplying best in class solutions, and as a result Currie Group is now the largest machinery supplier to the market, and Labels & Packaging is now a significant part of Currie Group alongside the original commercial print business, in which we are also a market leader.”
Today Currie Group supplies both digital and conventional flexo/offset press platforms, along with a host of converting, finishing and
embellishing solutions. Its move into analogue came in 2013, when it acquired Universal Print Partners (UPP), a small supplier agency with some big names, including OMET, AB Graphics and Karlville.
Daws says: “All of those brands sit at the top of the tree. Having the extensive range of technology offerings allowed them to cross pollinate, supplying the best of both worlds. Our approach to a customer is to go and work out what they are trying to achieve, and then work backwards from there in terms of which equipment, or combination of equipment, best suits their own particular needs. We want to provide an end-to-end service. We focus on applications. This is the key differentiator with Currie Group, our value proposition is clear, focused and deliverable.”
Those technologies continue to be adopted in large numbers across Australia and New Zealand, this year for instance four OMET flexo presses have already been installed, with several more on order. Daws says: “While digi- tal labels and flexible packaging is growing there is still a lot of room for conventional flexo, once you are over a certain run length.”
Currie Group works across a full range of applications, including pressure sensitive
www.packagingnews.com.au | November–December 2020