Aycliffe Today Business AT Business Issue 30 | Page 23

The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 23
Plastic Mouldings Northern sales
director Freddy Bourdais says
businesses can save thousands of
pounds and reduce landfill by using
re-usable plastic packaging.
Eco-friendly vacuum forming is
saving cash as well as the planet
A fast-growing company which specialises in producing bespoke packaging solutions
is helping businesses to save cash – as well as the planet.
By Martin Walker
County Durham firm Plastic Mouldings
Northern (PMN) says half of its business
is now made up of vacuum forming after
investing in a state-of-the-art machine two
years ago.
PMN’s German-made Geiss machine can
mould products 3.5m by 1.5m using material
up to 12mm thick.
Sales director Freddy Bourdais says it’s
this investment which is enabling other firms
to save thousands of pounds as well as
reducing their carbon footprint.
“A lot of companies we work with are
ISO 14001 accredited, which means they’re
committed to environmental responsibilities,”
says Bourdais.
“So they’re constantly looking for ways
of trying to reduce the tonnage of products
going into landfill.
“We invested in the Geiss machine
a couple of years ago so we could
accommodate large products. There are only
seven of them in the UK, the nearest to us
being down in Leicester, so locally it really
gives us an edge.
“We also invested in a large 5-axis CNC
machine so we could trim moulded products
quicker and more accurately.”
PMN produces a range of returnable
packaging solutions for clients in electronic,
engineering, automotive, medical and
aerospace industries.
Returnable packaging products include
Eurostacking containers, pallets and pallet
boxes, attached lid containers and ‘stack and
nest’ solutions, as well as bespoke vacuum
forming products.
Bourdais added: “We produce packaging
for any car or engine part which needs to
be transported from the manufacturer or
supplier into the automotive manufacturer
(OEM), and on to the manufacturing lines.
“We’ll take a CAD drawing of the part
and design a 3D drawing of a tray to
accommodate that part. Then we’ll make a
tool and mould it – and that tool might be
used for 10 years or more.
“We tend to assume everyone knows
about this kind of packaging, but they don’t.
One of our clients was spending £12,000 a
year on cardboard boxes, but by supplying
them with plastic re-usable packaging they’ll
be saving that cash after about 14 months
– which over five years will save them
£60,000.
“Returnable packaging now makes up
about 50% of our business and it’s growing.”
PMN, based at South Church Enterprise
Park in Bishop Auckland, was founded by
Bourdais and business partner Mark Rigg
with two staff in 2002, and this year has
seen turnover grow by more than 10% to
£2.3m, up from just over £2m in 2016.
The firm is planning a £1m expansion
later this year with the aim of doubling staff
numbers and sales.
PMN has built up an industry reputation
for supplying Jouplast adjustable risers,
which ensure decking and paving slabs sit
even, having previously gained an exclusivity
agreement to distribute the equipment
across Britain.
The firm supplies DIY chains including
Homebase, B&Q and Wickes, and it also
manufactures parts for the automotive
industry, with clients including Bentley,
Jaguar Land Rover, JCB and Rolls Royce,
while it has also recently supplied reusable
packaging solutions to Hitachi Rail Europe in
Newton Aycliffe.
The company aims to expand its new
premises and eventually consolidate all
operations into the new headquarters, and
take its workforce to around the 40 mark
over the next five years.
More details about Plastic Mouldings
Northern can be found at pmn.co.uk, or
you can give the team a call on 01388 777
700.