- Phoenix Closures

Phoenix
October 2011
Captions
Cuties Enters the
Juice Market
story pg. 3
All Plants Are SQF Certified!
story pg. 2
Captions
Phoenix Achieves SQF Certification
P
Phoenix is now SQF Certified at all three plant locations!
SQF stands for “Safe, Quality Food.”
“All the prerequisite programs and requirements are
aimed at, in our case, providing safe quality food packaging,” says Rob Zancig, QA/Food Safety Director.
Phoenix has always had food safety programs in place:
HACCP, GMPs, raw material requirements, etc. This
certification really exemplifies our committment to food
safety to both employees and to our customers.
“SQF Certification has heightened the awareness of
Food Safety throughout the whole company, particularly
in Manufacturing, Engineering, Purchasing, and Human
Resources. It has been very good for Phoenix – and our
customers,” says Zancig.
As a result of the certification, Phoenix has
changed the titles of four QA employees to
QA Manager Edgar Songco reviews food safety procedures
with Supervisor Rickie Ghoston.
include the phrase “Food Safety.”
“Congratulations to Rob, Aneta, John, Edgar, Tangie
and everyone at each of the sites that worked so hard
the past few months to make this project such a huge
success!” says Tim Ferrel, VP of Sales.
An Industry Update from VP of Sales
A
by Tim Ferrel with information from the Freedonia Group
Annual closure sales in the U.S. continue to grow at
approximately 3% overall, but the recent economic
adversity has altered some of the conditions in several
sectors. Examples of changing trends are the slowed
growth in carbonated beverages and negative growth in
personal care products while food closure volumes
continue to increase faster than population growth.
Consolidation has been the big story in the food closure
industry for the past several years. Now it appears that
the tide has reversed and divestitures seem to be the
wave of the future as companies try to repair badly damaged balance sheets by selling low margin businesses.
Rising raw material inputs will put additional financial
strain on all suppliers but those with significant leverage
will be particularly hard hit.
Capacities in the market have become constrained in
the past several years as operational consolidation at
the large multi-nationals has brought total capacities
down. Low margins and intensive capital requirements
have hampered the construction of new capacity.
Polypropylene has historically been an excellent price
to performance material for the manufacture of food
closures. With the decoupling of the historic relationship between crude oil and natural gas, the cost of
propylene has caused significant pain in the packaging
industry and the closure industry in particular. While
the recent price spike was temporary, the long term
trend appears to be up wards. Research into alternate
materials and reducing the amount a polypropylene in
current products is critical to long term planning.
As the sole supplier to many of our customers, Phoenix continues to place a heavy emphasis on risk
mitigation. All facets of the business are viewed from
this perspective, weaknesses identified and strategies
employed. Examples of these strategies include:
Financial health review of supply chain, geographical
diversity of commodity suppliers, SQF certification for
food safety, redundant off site computing systems,
back up production molds, multiple production locations, etc.
Phoenix maintains the strongest balance sheet in the
industry with a debt to equity ratio below 1:1
Ensuring that our products are engineered to use raw
materials in the most effective manner and exploring
alternate materials and designs will ensure that Phoenix is well positioned to supply the next generation of
food closures.
Cuties Moves into the Juice Market
W
When Cuties decided to enter the juice market, they
wanted to put out a premium package that would attract
consumer attention.
“Overall, marketing’s objective was to have the design of
the cap and bottle shape combined together to create an
overall impression on the consumer while on the shelfjust having a custom bottle shape wasn’t enough,” says
Alby Miller, Regional Sales Manager.
Cuties contacted Phoenix to see if we had the capabilities
to develop a completely new and exclusive closure
design for their new package.
SLA samples in a matter of days after concept approval.
“It was fun, especially for Dave Anderson, the design
engineer assigned to the project. He spent many hours
working to perfect the “splash” design the customer
wanted on the sidewall of the closure. This design
required varying levels of depth in the detail to allow it to
be able to eject from the mold without distortion,” added
Ekkert.
“We made this project a succes by collaborating on
design elements, finding common ground on what was
capable with our manufacturing and Cuties’ marketing
objectives,” says Miller.
“We thrive on new concepts and challenges, this was no
exception. We have the capability to design any style
closure to fit any package,” says Len Ekkert, VP of Engineering.
We were chosen as the development partner for this new
package because of our quick response to their inquiry,
our fast turnaround time on concepts, our ability to
interpret/comprehend design ideas, and provide
PCI Personnel Updates
I
It’s been a season of change at Phoenix Closures.
Veteran Regional Sales Manager Larry Stickel
retired after 17 years at Phoenix. We wish Larry
the best of luck in his retirement!
Congratulations to Becky Alstott has been promoted
to Inside Sales Representative. Becky has worked
at PCI since 2009, acting as the Customer Account
Representative for our west coast customers.
We are equally pleased
to welcome Rob Schroeder into the Northeast
Regional Sales Manager role vacated by
Larry. Rob has vast
experience in the packaging industry, including
fourteen years in sales
and
maunfacturing.
Currently based out of
Florence,
Massachusetts,
Rob
enjoys
spending
his
time
outdoors, skiing, golfing
PCI new Regional Sales Manand many other sports.
ager Rob Schroeder.
Rob also likes to spend time with his family; wife
Carole and children, Rory (8 years old) and Anne (5
years old).
“I am looking forward to growing my knowlege with
Phoenix and am excited for my new role,” says Becky.
We are equally thrilled to welcome Diane Leeper into
Becky’s former Customer Service role. She brings
with her more than 20 years of work experience.
Diane enjoys spending time with her family and
friends, and also lists watching sports and baking
among her hobbies.
We have also added an additional customer service
representative to the Phoenix team. Karen Anderson
joins Phoenix with several years of packaging industry
experience. Her interests include sports (watching
and playing them), gardening and being “mom.”
We will miss Larry, but are excited for Becky in her
new position at Phoenix and are delighted to welcome
Rob, Karen and Diane!
Shorts & Flashes Shorts & Flashes Shorts & Flashes
Paleo Named 2010 Kohs
Scholarship Recipient
C
Phoenix to Open Plant
in Indiana
P
Congratulations
to
Gerardo Paleo, the
2011 Kohs Scholar ship winner! Gerardo
is the son of E frain
Paleo, Lining Maintenance , and Laura
Paleo.
Phoenix Closures is planning to open a new
manufacturing plant in Greencastle, IN. Located
approximately 45 minutes west of Indianapolis and
minutes from I-70, the 250,000ft² facility will sit on
57 acres of land and is scheduled to begin production in late 2012. Fueled by organic growth, this
will be our third new site since 2000.
Gerardo
will
be
attending
Pomona
College
in
Clare 2011 Kohs winner Gerardo mont, California this
Paleo
fall. He will be major ing i n C o m p u t e r Science.
Phoenix worked with The State of Indiana and the
Greencastle/Putnam County Development Center
to find a location that met its particular needs.
In h i g h s c h o o l , G erardo was the captain of
his c r o s s - c o u n t r y and track teams, the
Pr e s i d e n t o f t h e Hispanic Honor Society,
a 2 0 11 I l l i n o i s State Scholar and a
me m b e r o f t h e N ational Honor Society. He
lov e s t o r e a d a nd spend time outdoors.
Ad d i t i o n a l l y, h e has a strong interest in
tec h n o l o g y, s o c i ology and education.
“In addition to meeting our specific manufacturing
requirements, the Greencastle site is located near
our strategic markets and has potential for
growth,” explains Ed Buck, VP of Manufacturing.
“The availability of an existing crane bay and rail
service made the building a viable option for redevelopment.”
Ge r a r d o w o r k e d in the Napervill mainte na n c e d e p a r t m e nt this past summer as a
pa r t o f t h e P C I college student summer
hir e p r o g r a m .
Co n g r a t s a g a i n t o Gerardo and his family!
We w i s h y o u t h e best of luck.
Captions
October 2011
Executive Editor, David Szala
Art Director, Katie McCarthy
Captions is published by the Marketing Department of Phoenix
Closures. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome.
Please mail to:
David Szala, Executive Editor
Phoenix Closures, Inc.
1899 High Grove Lane
Naperville, IL 60540-3996
Email: dszala@phoenixclosures.com
Phone: 630.420.4750
Quality and Innovation Since 1890
Copyright 2010, Phoenix Closures, Inc.
Phoenix Closures’ future Greencastle, IN plant.
The State of Indiana has offered Phoenix assistance with renovation that will convert this underutilized property into a food-grade packaging
manufacturing facility. The City of Greencastle will
provide incentives in the form of tax abatements,
infrastructure improvements, and training grants.