“Ever since we bought our first Martin we have seen growth in productivity and an improvement in quality,” says Russell Duarte, Director of Business Planning and Product Development, at the Riyadh Carton Company.
As part of the company’s business development planning, Mr. Duarte has carried out a like-for-like comparison between production from the Martin DRO 1628 NT Rapidset and the equipment Riyadh Carton previously utilized. “We were averaging six to seven hundred tons per month on the other equipment. Now we get at least 1200 tons a month from the DRO, so we get double the production from a Martin.”
Mr. Duarte says there are a number of factors which allow for this huge increase in productivity. “The Rapidset system is much faster than roll-in/roll-out or open/close systems, so make-readies are much quicker; the machine runs faster anyway; and the bundle stacker means we can run multi out die-cut work at high speeds.”
Doubled output.
Overall, Mr. Duarte says that the Martin DRO lines have had a big effect on production. “With total output twice as high, the print quality is also higher, and the ink consumption is much, much lower. I can also finish a job in 30% of the time of our previous machines, which increases capacity.”
Another huge advantage, says Mr. Duarte, is that on certain types of work the labor requirement is hugely reduced. “We have one regular large run that we were previously using 18 people per shift to break. Now, because of the bundle stacker on the DRO, we use just four people. That’s a big advantage to us.”
Mr. Duarte has also compared maintenance costs. “The figures for the machines we used to use are very alarming, but with the Martin they are within acceptable limits. In fact this is so much so that the management has made our engineers reduce their maintenance budget.”
Taken together, Mr. Duarte says that a typical four color job produced on a Martin DRO 1628 NT Rapidset will be 28% cheaper than on the machines the company used before. ”The price premium of a Martin machine is worth paying. It has been proven in the group now that the Martin lines are value for money and that they are important to helping our business grow, both in productivity and in product range.”
However, cost of production isn’t everything for Riyadh Carton. “The print quality is very different between the Martin DRO and the other machines we have used. The quality on the DRO is second to none and is achieved very easily. So our customers are very happy.”
First in the Kingdom.
The Riyadh Carton Company was established in 1981, but the plant predates the company and was, in fact, the first integrated corrugated box making plant in Saudi Arabia. The site became Riyadh Carton on its takeover by a large industrial group led by Sheikh Suliman Abdul Aziz Al-Rajhi, who saw an opportunity to serve the growing increasing from the industrial and agricultural sectors in the Kingdom.
At 300,000 square feet the plant was, and is, one of the largest in the country and it now forms a business unit within Sheikh Al-Rajhi’s Al-Watania group.
Mr. Abdullah M. Al-Zahrani, President of the Riyadh Carton Company, says that the investment the group has made in production equipment has been important in putting the company on the road to growth. ”In procuring the latest technology, our highly experienced team has drawn on best practices from around the world and have applied these to the benefit of our customers. We place customer satisfaction above everything, and innovative designs and solutions, coupled with quick and on time deliveries, help ensure we continue to deliver this. Our ISO 9001-2000 certification shows our ability to maintain high quality in the processes that generate our products and services. We are a company that delivers not only quality products, but a quality experience from start to finish.”
As part of its ISO processes, the company is very strict on complaints and, in particular, on ensuring the quality of materials provided by suppliers. Both plants have in-house laboratories for testing paper and substrates, as well as for testing the strength and parameters of finished boxes.
Riyadh Carton is the second largest manufacturer and supplier of corrugated paper packaging material in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and also exports extensively to Jordan and Iraq. “As well as quality and customer service, clients come to us because of our strong moral values and our financial strength,” says Mr. Al-Zahrani. “For them it means they can be sure they will get continuity of supply, and they can also be sure that our relationship with them will always operate in accordance with the highest standards.”
Producing a wide range of packaging from industrial to food products, some of Riyadh Carton’s largest accounts are from its sister concerns within the Al-Watania group, as Mr. Al-Zahrani explains. “Watania Poultry, for instance, is the second largest poultry company in the world, and we produce all their fresh and frozen chicken boxes on the Martin DRO 1628 NT, and all their egg boxes on the first Martin 1228 we bought back in 2003.”
On the other hand however, an equally important part of Riyadh Carton’s work mix comes from un-affiliated companies such as agricultural producers, and the company produces much of the industrial packaging required by many of the largest oil companies in the Kingdom.
Mr. Al-Zahrani’s vision is for continued growth in both types of business, and a new strategic plan has been developed based on continued investment in equipment such as the Martin DRO lines. The objective of the plan is to enable Riyadh Carton to reach new markets and further expand its customer base within the Kingdom, as well as in the GCC countries and the Middle East as a whole. “We do not intend to be second to anyone, either in the Kingdom, or outside,” says Mr. Al-Zahrani.
Packaging Institute
Whoever the customer, Russell Duarte says he and his team thrive on engineering a box that will provide them with a packaging solution. “When we find some new idea we immediately explore it with our people here, then we talk to suppliers about it, and finally with end users to explore what the advantages might be to them.”
Taking this process one step further, Mr. Duarte says that Riyadh Carton is developing the idea of establishing a Packaging Institute where the company can help customers put their product ideas into a box which will provide all the graphic and structural elements it will need. “We’ll advise them how they can benefit by using the right type of packaging. We’re already interacting with our major customers to help develop their packaging products – not as a box supplier but as a packaging partner looking at how we can get their products shipped and stored in a better manner. It involves a lot of research and development, such as looking at different products, different papers, and different substrates, but we feel it will be mutually beneficial. It is initiatives like this that keep customers coming back to us.”
The output of the company’s twin 2.4 meter BHS corrugators, one in Riyadh and one in Jeddah, is virtually all used in plant and with B, C, E, and B/C flutes available from the BHS lines, Mr. Duarte says that Riyadh Carton can cover the whole range of common customer substrate requirements. The Martin lines mean that the company has great versatility in the types of styles that it can produce, he adds.
It is this flexibility that has been a key factor in the company continuing to invest in Martin lines after buying its first in 2003. “When we looked at the capabilities of the Martin machines, what benefits they could bring, and what support we could get for the company – we found them to be much better than the equipment and support were currently getting,” explains Mr. Duarte. “At that time we were running conventional “roll-in/roll-out” or “open/close” machines. When we saw the Rapidset technology on the Martin DRO 1628 NT we knew it would help us a lot and we installed a six color DRO line here in Riyadh. Based on the performance of that machine we went for the same machine in Jeddah last year. We are now producing 1000 tons a month with the DRO there, where before we were producing 500 tons.”
Both 1628 DRO’s are NT Rapidset versions featuring a pre-feeder, breaker and layer preparation. This increases the production speed of the machine, while direct drive technology not only ensures quality of print but also ensures very accurate cut-to-print accuracy. A bundle stacker on the machine means that the company is able to produce more die-cut work per hour with less people.
Problem solved.
At Jeddah, the DRO 1628 has solved a perennial problem for the company. “We have a customer who produces ceramic tiles and we make the packaging for them,” explains Mr. Duarte. “It is a difficult box to do and the customer wants it nice and clean, with no nicks. Of course also want to produce it at high speed. On our old equipment we were getting something like 6% rejections because it was such a difficult job. But with the DRO we do the job with no problems at all and we haven’t had a rejection or complaint since moving the job over to it. In fact this customer has asked us not to send them any work unless it comes from the Martin DRO.”
A two color DRO 1628 NT completes the rotary die-cut picture at Riyadh, while a 924 Rapidset covers flexo-folder-gluing. “At 18,000 an hour it is high speed,” says Mr. Duarte, “and it is very flexible in its minimum and maximum. It handles all the American box sizes.”
With two shifts of 120 personnel, running 24 hours a day, support is a key issue for Riyadh Carton and Mr. Duarte talks highly of the level of support the company receives from Martin through the Bobst Group Africa & Middle East (BAM) team in Tunis. “It’s about the best support you can get, both on technical issues and process wise. I can pick up the phone and talk to Naoufel Ghezal, or one of the other people at BAM, and I get the advice we need. Also our Maintenance Manager can call in the middle of the night or on a holiday, and unlike other suppliers who all have their phones turned off from Friday evening until Monday morning, someone from Martin will be there. They may be in Tunis, Lyon, or Dubai, but they will give you the help you need. This is one of the biggest advantages we see, which is something you don’t get with any other suppliers. We run 24/7 and this sort of support is essential.”
So, with five Martin lines now in the group, how does Mr. Duarte feel about them? “That number tells you everything. We let the machines speak for themselves.”
August 2010
