Page 38 - Packaging News Sep-Oct 2020

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CONTRACT PACKAGING | www.packagingnews.com.au | September-October 2020
The outlook for the Australian
The contract packaging and contract manufacturing industry in Australia was in a period of transition
before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. There had been some major merger and acquisition activity, and Asignificant innovation in the way co-packers work. PKN editor Ian Ackerman reports.
S the tide of the pandemic rose, In terms of markets, Miles said and we’ve been spreading our lunch- the movement and evolution of some had gone up significantly, time over more breaks and extended the co-packing industry was put some down, but, on balance, busi- the gap between day and afternoon on hold as companies turned to ness had been stable. shift cross over to ensure people ensuring operations continued Operationally, LJM has had to aren’t interacting,” he said
and staff stayed safe. make significant adjustments to “We also have people isolated in Victorian co-packing giant LJM comply with regulations and keep different geographical sites and are was on the forefront of a consolida- staff safe, Miles said. monitoring locations via our time
tion trend in the Australian co-pack- ing space before the pandemic hit.
The company employs more than 600 people across seven sites in New South Wales and Victoria, packing for national and global FMCG, food, beverages, spirits, and pharmaceuti- cals companies.
TOUGH TIMES
LJM director Lance Miles told PKN the Covid-19 pandemic has been a difficult time for everybody, and the co-packing market is no different.
“Because we have high levels of staff, we’ve been social distancing and increasing sanitisation. We sepa- rate our workforce in lunchrooms,
and attendance software.
“We hired a nurse to come in and
give temperature and wellness checks to everyone, and we have our people wearing full PPE [per- sonal protective equipment]. The feedback is, people get more fatigued wearing full PPE, so we’re having to increase the frequency of breaks.
“It’s difficult to put an exact num- ber on the impact on efficiency, but we estimate it is between 10 and 15 per cent.
Looking beyond the Covid period... it will be about trying to reconnect with the opportunities put on hold.”