VPK Packaging’s Aquila Sheet Feeder Plant, Brzeg

VPK Packaging’s new Aquila sheet feeder plant in Poland commenced production in January 2015. Image: courtesy of VPK Packaging Group.

VPK Packaging’s corrugated sheet business is operated under the Aquila brand. Image: courtesy of VPK Packaging Group.

VPK Packaging also started corrugated packaging business in Poland in February 2015. Image: courtesy of VPK Packaging Group.

European packaging group VPK Packaging Group began production at its fourth Aquila corrugated cardboard sheet feeder factory in south-western Poland in January 2015.

Spanning an area from 15,000m² to 17,000m², the new Aquila sheet feeder plant produces high-quality, double-walled corrugated cardboard sheets of 2.8m width. It is the company’s third corrugated sheet factory in Poland and is similar to the existing Aquila Radomsko and Wrzesnia plants in terms of profile production.

The Aquila greenfield sheet feeder plant is intended to expand the service rate to the VPK Packaging customers in the Polish market. The facility represents a 35% increase in the total capacity of Aquila business in the region.

Site details and construction of Aquila plant in Brzeg county

Development of the new corrugated cardboard sheet feeder plant is part of a €40m ($55m) investment announced by VPK Packaging in March 2014 to expand its business in Poland.

The facility is located in Aquila Wałbrzyska Special Economic Zone in Skarbimierz village, Brzeg County, Opole Voivodeship. Construction at the site began in June 2014.

Corrugated cardboard production at the Brzeg plant

The Aquila corrugated cardboard sheets are produced in single-wall and double-wall configurations with multiple flute combinations, and offered in brown or white formats. The sheets are manufactured using a range of papers, including basic recycled grades, testliners, wellenstoffs, as well as high-quality kraftliners and flutings.

VPK Packaging’s Polish corrugated sheet business and plants

VPK Packaging produces and delivers high-quality corrugated sheets under the Aquila brand. The sheets are fabricated as semi-finished products and supplied to niche markets for secondary conversion by corrugated board packaging customers.

The company’s first corrugated sheet feeder plant was set up in Wrzesnia town, Poland, in January 2005 and the second plant in Radomsko town in January 2010 to meet the increasing demands in the region. VPK Packaging opened another sheet feeder facility in Leinefelde, Germany, in January 2012. The sheet feeder plants are installed with latest computer systems for fast and reliable delivery of the corrugated sheet products.

Each factory processes corrugated sheets at a maximum speed of 350m per minute to achieve a total production of approximately 200 million squared metres a year.

The geographical location of the three plants in Poland enables the company to offer better customer service and fast delivery of products throughout the region.

Marketing commentary on VPK Packaging

Established in Belgium in 1936, VPK Packaging Group is engaged in the development and production of protective and logistical packaging solutions and has presence in 12 European countries. The company earned an operating income of €800m ($1bn approximately) in 2014.

VPK Packaging operates 37 plants, which produce packaging products such as papers, corrugated board packaging, corrugated sheets, solid boards, and cardboard cores, tubes and edge protectors. The company produced 703,000t of corrugated boards in 2014.

The company also started its first corrugated packaging plant in Poland in February 2015. The plant will offer corrugated packaging to European customers in food, drinks and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sectors.