The credit crunch is having an interesting knock-on effect within the packaging industry – according to the UK’s leading end of line packaging manufacturer Endoline Machinery.
Earlier this year Endoline announced plans to extend their cost effective line of Phoenix case sealing machines in a bid to grow their export business – however since this time the company has actually witnessed a growth in sales of the range in cash-strapped Britain. In contrast, orders for larger System Range machines have been on the increase throughout Europe, the Middle East and Australia.
Endoline Managing Director comments, “The Phoenix Range was introduced to meet the needs of customers who want packaging automation with the technical support and performance-enhancing features of our higher specification System range machines – but without the price tag. We anticipated the growth of this range would be through overseas distributors by providing them with a competitive series of machines that would enable them to grow their businesses profitably.”
“However, while we are delighted with the successes achieved to date following the launch of our exporting campaign, which led to the recent export award for outstanding achievement, we have been surprised with the demand in overseas orders for our bespoke System Range machines while in the UK orders for Phoenix Range machines have risen beyond expectations. One of the factors for the UK trend could be down to the credit crunch. The point being that we suspect a number of larger projects may be on hold while there is uncertainty about the economic outlook however, customers still need to automate to overcome increased costs and one of the best ways to do this is with a low-cost machine that can provide a return on investment of less than six months ”
In particular, Endoline has witnessed an increase in machine orders from the convenience food sector – a testament perhaps to the fact that consumers are bracing themselves against the credit crunch by moving to lower cost foods rather than going to expensive restaurants.