Page 84 - Packaging News Magazine Nov-Dec2020

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PROFILE | PKN 60 YEARS SPECIAL
Impak Films
Impak Films specialises in the design, devel- opment and sourcing of specialty filmic base films and structures.
It is a medium-size Melbourne-based company that just focuses on discovering answers to their customers’ opportunities. It is growing at a very healthy rate with offices in Australia, the US, and China.
If Academy Awards were being given out for packaging problem-solving, Impak Films would have had a cabinet full of awards by now. The two directors, Brian Christy and Andy Newman, established Impak back in 2005, after both achieving stellar careers working for international film companies here and overseas.
The two entrepreneurs bought the original business and were, as they’ve said in the past, “a little nervous when they started and going out on their own”.
In the decade and a half since then, the com- pany has grown ten times the original size, and now supplies a range of top-name printer con- verters both here and in overseas markets, as long-term customers.
The plot to the
company’s success
“Impak sources and supplies a complete range of plastic films inclusive of BOPP, BOPET, Nylon, CPP and CPE. Additionally, these can be provided as coated films, metallised films or designed with modified surfaces. As we
modify the surfaces with coatings, polymers or different additives, we get into more functional and
bespoke film for specialised end uses,” Brian Christy says.
“Specialty products are what people come to us for, and we have vastly expanded our prod-
uct range and customer base in that decade and a half. We are particu- larly strong now in coated films, lidding films and antifog technologies. With our strong technical background, we can work with suppliers to design and develop new prod-
ucts and bring these products to market.” Having worked for some of the US’s largest film suppliers, Andy Newman has the range
of contacts, knowledge, and experience to identify the right supplier to solve an Australian customer’s problem.
“We offer a full range of hard films plus we specialise in the all-important barrier films, coated films, and as Brian has said, lidding and antifog. I think what our joint experience brings to the table, is extensive value-adding and product design and thorough development experience of new films to suit a particular requirement,” he says.
The cast
Besides Brian and Andy and a technically strong business team in Australia, the com- pany has a well-established American office in Atlanta, Georgia and an experienced local technical executive in Dongguan, China who adds that technical competence to the com- pany’s product opportunities.
“Our technical executive Jo Xu is highly expe- rienced with a strong film background,” adds Brian. “Jo is involved in sourcing, qualifying a plant and auditing suppliers, if we are working with a new supplier. Her quality audit ensures that we are comfortable with their operation, and ensures we receive the quality product we are after. In other countries we would take a more direct role ourselves.”
The company has been flying the flag in the US for more than 10 years, and, as Andy says, “We knew people there and we knew the opportunities there. We built a business before the establishment of an office, but now we have a very successful company that is sup- plying the huge US market.”
Andy says they identified opportunities in the US film market and focused on specialty products rather than commodities.
“In Australia we supply through the range – because there are not as many manufactur- ers locally. But the American market is huge and highly skilled with many local suppliers, but you can work with clients who can be 10 times the size of an Australian customer.
Brian says their sourcing capability was in their joint experience. “We have been doing this for 32 years and both came out of ICI and later UCB, which were both global businesses. I think – and Andy will back me up – that having worked with a huge number of customers over those years, in many countries, has given us the depth that allows us to speak as and to, film experts and suppliers virtually everywhere.”
www.packagingnews.com.au | November–December 2020