In the Spotlight: PennPac Invests in Expansion
- Published: August 09, 2020
Submitted by PennPac Company
PennPac Company, a service-oriented provider of custom slit flexible packaging films, is expanding with a newly constructed Class A facility in Greenville, S.C. The company’s $3.5 million strategic warehouse and production investment is expecting to create new jobs as it expands into the southeast region.
“Our southeast service center will allow us to be more relevant to key customers and provide us the opportunity to become a relative supply partner with new customers,” said Bill Palmer, president and CEO of PennPac.
The new 65,000-square-foot expansion in Greenville, S.C. will fundamentally mirror the company’s Pennsylvania service center. The additional warehouse space will be advantageous for many customers in the southeast who currently work with PennPac.
“For the customers located in the southeast, we’ll be one transit day closer which can make all the difference in most situations,” says Palmer.
PennPac will be commissioning its latest Atlas CW800 slitter rewinder in its new facility, along with several other narrow web slitters. They purchased their first CW800 back in 2010.
As for the decision to introduce the new facility, “We needed more space,” said Palmer. “It never made sense to expand our footprint in the northeast.”
Relieving capacity in the northeast will improve the company’s current service platform by expanding its capabilities and service offerings.
Since 1995, PennPac has worked with converters, brand owners, co-packers and other businesses using flexible packaging films. The company provides custom slit roll stock film, inventory management programs, and resealable zipper closures.
PennPac is uniquely positioned to provide films for both large-production converting and small-run packaging. By maintaining several million pounds of film and state-of-the-art slitting assets, PennPac is positioned to react quickly to customer requirements.
The Manheim, Pa, service center consists of eight late model high tech in-house slitters with 1-92 in. web capacity. This provides the company with tremendous flexibility to respond to customer demands quickly.
“When PennPac is engaged, customers can expect a solution ready to ship the same day, or we simply custom slit exactly what is required from our extensive master web inventory,” said Rob Tiller, director of operations at PennPac.
PennPac has two significant differentiators when compared to its competition. Specifically, when a customer orders a custom slit web width, PennPac only invoices for what the customer orders, never the entire master roll.
“We have an exceptional team of operators and planners who can piece together our master web inventory with the inflow of custom slit jobs. The result is competitive pricing for customers and an annual scrap rate right around 1 percent,” said Tiller.
The other key differentiator is simply, “PennPac is easy to do business with,” said Palmer. “This is the number one compliment I get from customers. I think it’s a testament to the entire PennPac team being extremely passionate about their work and our role in the supply chain of packaging films.”
PennPac is geared to service large scale film converting by warehousing their particular film while inherently providing a contingency plan with back up inventory on-hand that can be slit to size at a moment’s notice.
“Many of our long-run customers have variations in their forecasts,” said Palmer. “For example, they may experience an unexpected activity increase, or the end-user or marketing teams may adjust the packaging design. Our job is to respond swiftly so the customer can capitalize on these opportunities when they arise.”
Increases in the narrow web and label market demand have enabled PennPac to become a valuable provider of films for this market segment due to their narrow web slitting capabilities.
“We believe this market requires a supplier who can provide lower minimum order quantities and different roll size variations. This is our niche,” said Palmer. “We continue to add to our portfolio of films so that we can become a one-stop-shop for this market.”
Ultimately, the company strives to eliminate extra and unnecessary work for its customers when they’re sourcing film. “If you’re purely shopping for film, you may find less expensive sources with the ever-changing market conditions. We’re highly competitive and we have the unmatched ability to provide stable pricing with volatile market conditions. Most importantly, we will always provide unparalleled service,” said Palmer.
Through an ongoing commitment to reinvest in itself and its entrepreneurial spirit, PennPac has continued healthy growth patterns year-after-year. The company attributes most of its growth to its customer's success.
PennPac is thrilled with the outlook of the new facility and the opportunities it will present. The company is excited about adding new team members to the PennPac family and looks forward to ongoing success.
