Page 30 - Packaging News Magazine Sep-Oct 2019

O
30
COMPANY PROFILE
CORMACK PACKAGING www.packagingnews.com.au
Popping the cap on 80 years
What started as a company trading fine hair for brushes eight decades ago, has evolved into a reputable Australian manufacturer of caps and closure systems. Lindy Hughson visited Cormack Packaging’s Condell Park, NSW facility and spoke to company executives about major milestones, growth strategies, and new directions.
N THE canvas that is Cormack Packaging’s colourful existence, the early years can be painted in broad brush strokes – and seventy to eighty years ago the artist might well have been using a brush made from the hair traded
by the company. It was founded as a supplier of imported hair for a range of brushes for personal care, paint- ing and other household applica- tions. But the company’s big break- through came when cosmetics giant Avon decided to bring its manufac- turing to Australia and needed hair for an eyelash (mascara) brush. This created an opportunity for the com- pany to make its foray into plastic moulding, combining the hair it was importing with a moulded mascara wand. And thus, the business took a new direction as a supplier of mould- ed cosmetics accessories.
The next major boost came in the early 1980s in the wake of the
Tylenol poisoning incident in the USA, when the company licensed Kerr’s patented child resistant clo- sure (CRC) technology and found itself servicing high demand from the local pharmaceutical industry. To this day, the pharmaceutical sector accounts for roughly a third of the company’s turnover.
“The CRC closures still remain a big part of our portfolio, but we have moved on to the more modern CR3 platform with international closure partner Berry (Kerr’s owner) and de- veloped our own squeeze and turn range,” says Howard Glinn, national sales manager.
The company’s direction changed yet again in the early 2000s when most cosmetics companies started offshoring their manufacturing op- erations, bringing to a halt, among other revenue streams for Cormack, the assembly of over 12 million standard lotion pumps per annum.
It is testament to the company’s resilience, though, that it quickly identified and seized new opportu- nities, replacing the cosmetics main- stay of the business with what is still today a healthy food and beverage closure division. At the same time, it grew the local manufacturing opera-
September-October 2019
Our focus on design excellence sees us reducing material usage while ensuring our caps perform optimally for our customer, the brand owner, and the consumer.”
– Howard Glinn