Above: Chris Scully and Craig Turnbull shake hands on the Omega Allpro deal.
It all began a long time ago – in 1882 when Sir John Harrison set up a commercial print business that in time turned to manufacturing printed packaging. Initially supplying the ethical pharmaceutical sector, Harrison Packaging subsequently diversified to a situation today where the company serves multiple sectors, including food, beverage, household, luxury, pharma, and industrial automotive industries.
Like most print companies, Harrison Packaging has witnessed the up and downs of supplying to what today has become a very volatile market sector, where top-quality is a given, JIT production and delivery the norm, and profit margins squeezed by customers watching their bottom line.
The business passed from the Harrison family ownership many years back and the current owner and Managing Director, Craig Turnbull, is quick to acknowledge that when he acquired it in 2021, the company was ready for an injection of energy and investment in technology, as well as people training and development. “It was at the end of the pandemic and a tough time for everyone with a level of uncertainty that most had never witnessed in the industry before. But what I found here was a workforce with a solid base of experience and knowhow, but one that was lacking in the latest technology.”
So, he set about turning the business round with an ambitious investment programme that included a new Koenig & Bauer offset carton press and the latest installation, a Koenig & Bauer Duran Omega folder gluer. Along with other technology, the total spend was more than £4m at a time when few had the resources and confidence to move forward. “Harrison Packaging had not traditionally been a Koenig & Bauer house for printing or converting, but our requirements were not standard, and their consultative approach chimed well with us and the way we work here,” Turnbull explained.
The initial investment, back in 2022, saw the first of the new Koenig & Bauer Rapida 106X presses to be installed in the UK and Ireland. This B1 format press is an eight-colour machine fitted with two coaters, separated by the eighth print unit. This unusual configuration makes for flexible production capability across a range of substrates and products, and three years after its installation, it is still one of the most highly specified and future-proof presses of its type in Europe, according to Chris Scully, Managing Director of Koenig & Bauer UK.
With a top speed of 20,000 sheets/hour, which is typical of daily production at Harrisons, the press is a productive tool that, with its high level of automation, places great emphasis on the capability of downstream converting. Coupled with its versatility, that according to Scully: “makes it the Swiss army knife of production – capable of doing a multitude of different jobs,” the Rapida began to show Turnbull some new market opportunities outside solid cartons and beyond the previous capacity of the company.
“We’re not part of a large group aiming for volume, we’re an SME that offers a high degree of flexible production capacity for short to medium runs delivered to market in ultra-quick time. So, fast make-ready is key because we probably handle multiple different jobs each shift across a range of different boards,” he explained. And this is where the need for a new folder gluer was highlighted. Although not a previous user of Koenig & Bauer converting equipment, the company turned to the German company for assistance.
“I have always believed that the art of selling is listening, not talking,” said Turnbull. “What we needed was not something out of a standard catalogue, so when we were introduced to Duran, the folder gluer manufacturer that is part of the Koenig & Bauer Group, we knew we had found the right partner. We explained in detail what we needed our folder gluer to be capable of, and at every stage they said, ‘leave with us’ – and they always delivered.”
The outcome was an order for what effectively is a hybrid folder gluer that can handle traditional solid carton board as well as micro flute corrugated substrates. It was the latter capability that was important as Harrison Packaging was starting to acquire orders from a new market sector that had a special requirement for micro flute boxes – “and it’s a large sector with huge potential,” said Turnbull enthusiastically.
Carton and corrugated
The folder gluer installed at Harrison Packaging’s plant is a hybrid based on Koenig & Bauer Duran’s popular and well-proven Omega Allpro 110 model. Designed for high-speed production of straight-line, double-wall, crash-lock, 4- and 6-corner cartons, inner partitions, Z-folds, conical crash locks, and CD boxes, the Allpro is both a great all-rounder and a specialist machine.
To meet the needs of Harrison Packaging and its diverse product offering, the Omega Allpro was built to accommodate additional features for handling micro flute corrugated jobs. These include modified pre-fold and final fold sections, which ensure correct alignment and finish at speeds up to 400m/min, depending on the job and board. To prevent skewed or faulty folding, it has an integrated multiple correction and quality control system.
Left to right: Mark Ward of Koenig & Bauer UK with Apo Kucukaras of Duran and Craig Turnbull, onsite in Stockton-on-Tees.
Eren Senturk, Director of Sales & Marketing, Koenig & Bauer Duran, said, “These smart features help minimise waste, reduce re-work, and maintain high quality production levels. With its intuitive controls, fast changeover times and ergonomic design, the Allpro allows operators to maximise efficiency – that’s why we say it’s as smart to use as it is powerful!”
The folder gluer also draws praise from Turnbull. “Because of the job mix we have here, the fact that we can run different boards with the standard adhesive and without slowing the machine gives the Allpro an incredibly high net production figure compared with other folder gluers,” he said. “And the fact that the operators all love running it makes it a morale booster as well as a great production tool. Even our design department approves because it gives them new opportunities – so our customers benefit from our creative and innovative service.”
Summing up for Harrison Packaging, Turnbull stated, “Our long-term partnership with Koenig & Bauer has delivered another first with the Omega Allpro, which has enabled us to win business from new market sectors. Our policy of investment in the latest technology allows us to meet and exceed customer expectations by offering flexible capacity and innovation. We are keen to develop this going forward.”
Scully added, “Koenig & Bauer has always been known for its innovation and technology that is tailored to meet individual requirements, so we were delighted to be able to support Craig and his team at Harrison Packaging with a special press and a hybrid folder gluer. As a valued customer we wish them well for the future.”
Currently, Harrison Packaging employs over 100 people at its 80,000 sq ft facility in Teesside, with eight trainee apprentices either engaged in or having completed the BPIF scheme, and almost every employee involved with personal development of some kind. With its significant investment in technology and people, Harrison Packaging is well-positioned for future success in, and Turnbull says he is determined to keep pushing the boundaries of innovation, working in collaboration with machine OEMs and customers to ensure the highest level of customer service.
