Rigid Containers completes Euro 8 million investment in Limerick, Ireland, and announces plans to increase workforce by 30% in the next two years. The announcement was made during the official opening of two major extensions and the launch of new state of the art conversion equipment.
The southern extension is 880 square metres and accommodates a new materials handling system. The western extension consists of a 708 square metre ground floor and a 400 square metre of mezzanine floor. The ground floor accommodates a new gluing machine and ancillary equipment, while the mezzanine allows for more offices, meeting rooms and other staff facilities.
The new materials handling system installed as part of the overall investment consists of three double-bay transfer shuttles, 23 lanes of belt conveyor, additional storage space for what is known as ‘Work in Progress’ (WIP), new corrugator take-off area and a new belt conveyor to feed the Texo rotary die-cutter and the new gluer.
Mark Munnelly, Rigid Containers Site Director, said, “Rigid Containers has quickly established itself as a centre of excellence for quality service through flexibility and operational excellence. Since taking over in 2015, we have grown our production volume by 30%, with plans for further expansion. While investment in both manufacturing technology and facilities are central to the progress made by Rigid Containers to date, our sustainable competitive advantage lays with our talented and committed 95 staff members, many with over 20 year experience in the industry.
“We are now formulating plans to introduce a third shift that will increase our employee numbers by a further 25 to 30 jobs over the next two years,” Mr Munnelly said.
