Johnston Packaging has recently upgraded to a new Komori GL640 Advance 6-colour UV/IR/HA coater press sold and installed by Print & Pack.

Johnston Packaging, located in the western suburbs of Sydney at Condell Park, is a specialist in manufacturing printed and folding cardboard cartons. With more than 50 years of history, the business has now entered its fourth generation of family members involved in the business.

Over the decades, Johnston Packaging has worked with Komori offset printing machines and enjoyed a long-term relationship with Komori’s local distributor, Print & Pack.

“My grandfather and father started Johnston Packaging almost 50 years ago in a garage and then a small factory in Kirawee in the southern suburbs of Sydney,” says Rod Johnston – the current managing director of the business.

Johnston started as a lithographic printer and became general manager in 2008 before becoming managing director in 2013.

“The business then moved from Kirawee to the current site at Condell Park and we have been operating Johnston Packaging from here for the last 40 years. My grandfather and father worked in the printing industry and my father convinced my grandfather to come out of retirement to start the business. I remember being at home hand-erecting a lot of different types of packaging products when I was growing up – we were the converters,” he recalls fondly.

“These days we have a large number of family members involved in the business and we have clients that we have been consistently working with for over 20 and 30 years – primarily in the FMCG food and beverage categories as well as the hardware, confectionery and animal pharmaceutical areas.”

Johnston Packaging is also well known for inventing KlippaKan – a patented fibre-based packaging innovation for beverage cans.

The new Komori GL640 Advance press

Two years ago, Johnston Packaging started discussions regarding the purchase of a new Komori with Mori Williams and the Print & Pack team shortly after Covid.

“We soon realised that we needed to undertake some renovations to the plant as we have upgraded from a conventional press to a UV press. Once we had made these improvements including increased power availability we committed to the new Komori. This is a long-term decision  for our business, and it will probably be a machine that is replaced not by me, but by the next generation of our family.

“The beauty of Komori is there a broad range of products that are suited to all types of printing and packaging businesses. Whether you are a multi-site large organisation, or a small print shop working with small to medium suppliers, Komori has something for you.”

“This replaces an older reconditioned 5-colour Komori that we had for 22 years. We bought the new Komori GL640 Advance press sight-unseen, although we did inspect the model previous to this at the beginning of the research process almost two years ago. Komoris have worked well for us in the past – and we have found that the maintenance side is minimal. We have a second half-size Komori as well that we also use for our packaging work,” Johnston says.

“The new Komori GL640 Advance features a lot more automation that what we have had previously which has been helpful for our production team. It has a great monitoring system that uses cameras to read the sheets and can detect the smallest defects down to 0.5mm. Once it is up and running, our operators and basically monitoring the machine and following up any notifications. It picks up any faults so early there is no damage to any sheets, and this is important with maintaining run times as well as minimising waste.

“We now have over 32 staff working in the business and four staff working specifically on the Komori – a printer and offsider working a day shift and an afternoon shift.

“The Print & Pack team have been terrific to work with. We had numerous meetings beforehand to ensure we had everything in place including working with their engineers on the plinths and marking out the floors. The installation went very smoothly over about four weeks, and we have had an additional five weeks of training. The Komori demonstrator Steve Harper has been very patient with our staff and has been always available if we need to contact him at any time.

“Steve is very well known in the industry with over 30 years of experience and is a very important part of the Print & Pack team,” Williams added. The new Komori GL640 Advance will provide Johnston Packaging with the opportunity to offer its customers additional benefits.

“The new machine has allowed us to bring UV finishes, embellishments and coatings back in-house that we couldn’t do on the previous machine that we were outsourcing,” Johnston says.

“It also provides us with opportunities to produce work that we have steered away from in the past as we were unable to compete – we can now win more of that work. It has also eased the pressure and allowed us to have excess capacity to grow our business.”

Packaging industry trends

Johnston has noticed a number of key trends that have been driving the recent growth in the packaging market.

“There has definitely been a trend towards removing plastic from the supply chain – particularly single-use plastic – and replacing this with paper and fibre-based products. We have seen since the beginning of Covid right through to where we are now that there is also the drive towards local manufacturing and relocating work from offshore as a lot of companies were caught out with extended lead times and delays due to unpredictable supply chains and logistics.

“We have noticed that response times are reducing, and this is high on the list when we are talking to our customers. Clients do not want to see a six-week lead time on a job – they would prefer two to three weeks, and this was another reason why we made this investment so that we can decrease our lead time, increase our capacity as well as improve our offering.

“We have also found that clients are reducing some of their holdings in their own warehouses and this has changed the minimum order quantities. Instead of holding on to their packaging for 8-10 months, they are dropping this down to 3-4 months, and this also allows them to keep their packaging designs fresh.”

Print & Pack success with Komori

According to Williams, Print & Pack continues to see strength in the offset printing category.

“We have had a very successful four-year period with Komori and there have been a lot of installations of our machines in Australia and New Zealand.

“We have installed a couple of Komori GL640 Advance units now and this success reflects the work done by Komori to deliver a return on investment for printers who are also seeking improved efficiencies as they upgrade their equipment. The Advance model features incremental improvements reducing stoppage times, faster makeready as well as improved feeder and delivery system.

“The press offers superb print quality and colour consistency, supported by Komori’s KHS-AI Production control with Smart Sequence, ensuring High-Speed Start. Further advancements with PDC-SX Smart Feedback technology provide customers with print quality they can rely on, consistently delivering exceptional results.

“We have seen a larger number of packaging companies investing in Komori offset printing solutions as we can offer everything a packaging printer needs. The growth in fibre-based food packaging has been one of the drivers of this category growth. The market is making the trends, and it has forced printers to diversify into packaging.

“Consumers, particularly younger consumers, are demanding packaging be delivered as an experience. There are more luxury items being packaged and these end customers want a nice high-build UV on the box as part of the experience. Major supermarkets and grocery retailers are also increasingly packaging their fresh produce in fibre-based products and not in soft plastics.”

Williams says the Komori range offers a wide range of options for specialists in the printing and packaging category looking to invest in an offset solution.

“The beauty of Komori is there a broad range of products that are suited to all types of printing and packaging businesses. Whether you are a multi-site large organisation, or a small print shop working with small to medium suppliers, Komori has something for you.”

“For printers that are wanting to growth their business, Komori is a great solution to deliver a return on investment while also offering quick makeready times and stable running capacities. We have 29-inch half-sized presses through to 44-inch packaging presses as well as everything in between – Komori’s range offers something for everyone.

“The Johnston Packaging business is superior to a lot of other packaging manufacturers due to its agility and ability to service clients that little bit quicker for clients. It is great to see a family business thriving and doing well – and it is a true family business with fathers, sons, nieces, and nephews working in the company. The business has been very loyal to Komori and to Print & Pack and they are great to work with. We are proud to have installed a piece of equipment that will directly deliver a return on investment and immediately improve the efficiency of their business. This is an investment that can be further improved and upgraded by the next generation if they want to go to the next level in the years ahead.”