Gelpack, the Hereford-based manufacturer of flexible packaging, including films, bags, liners and sacks, has appointed Keith Peate as group manufacturing director. Peate has more than 28 years' experience in the plastic film extrusion industry, much of it with CeDo, Europe's largest producer of own label and branded household consumables, where he held senior managerial roles in the UK, China, Vietnam, Poland, and the Netherlands.
Gelpack managing director, Geoff Davis, said: "We have invested in excess of £7 million over the past couple of years in new state-of-the-art extrusion technology, high speed conversion equipment and an extensive research and development programme, which have brought about a 30% increase in throughput at our two factories in Madley and Hereford. Keith's appointment will help maximise improvements in productivity at both plants which, between them, operate 28 extrusion lines, including the latest five-layer co-extrusion technology. The weaker pound has allowed UK manufacturers such as Gelpack to be even more competitive, although in our case we have also developed improved efficiencies following the first phase of an investment programme, which has created greater capacity at our Madley plant. This will be followed over the next 18 months by the upgrading of a further 18 extruders, reinforcing Gelpack's leading capability."
Keith Peate's experience in managing manufacturing sites around the world, heading up continuous improvement programmes, is complemented by his extensive knowledge of all blown film and plastic recycling processes, focusing on production improvement initiatives.