Leif Frilund, president and CEO, Walki, said the factory reduces lead times significantly because raw materials are close by.
The area is also attractive due to recent investments in road infrastructure. It also has one of the highest ranking technology universities in Poland and is close to growing markets across the German, Czech and Slovakian borders.
Green Field Plant
"Our main markets are in Central Europe. The plant in Wroclaw reduces lead times significantly. Customers can expect to have their deliveries supplied within two weeks,” he said.
The plant has a capacity of about 50,000 tonnes annually, and employs 50 people. It will initially cater to the Consumer Packaging and Forest Industry.
The green field plant was completed in less than seven months after construction work began and the first commercial products were delivered in July.
It uses extrusion technology and recently bought a flexo-printing machine for producing ream wrap for A3 and A4 copy paper reams at its Jatne plant.
The right time
The 10-colour printing machine line is completely automated, and uses 100% water-based colors.
"As the requirements on printing quality are increasing we felt the time was right for modernization", said Timo Finnström, executive VP, Operations.
"Customers can expect greater flexibility, shorter lead times and more environmental-friendly packaging.”
Together with the plant in Kwidzyn near Gdansk, Walki now operates three plants in Poland including Wroclaw and Jatne.
The Finnish company has plants in Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, the UK, Russia and China with a workforce of about 900 people. Annual net sales for the Group are over 300m Euros.