EPS News Interview - Graham Bonner
How much EPS does Stoves use? Around 500 tonnes a year. We use more EPS than we used to and relatively little cardboard which is our main alternative packaging. Four years ago we increased the amount of EPS in order to provide more protection for our products. What are the main benefits which EPS gives you? The protection it affords as well as its flexibility and aesthetic appearance. It's easier to assemble in the factory. By comparison, cardboard is messy and awkward. We've also looked at bags with a filler and recycled paper pulp but our products are so large that it has proved very difficult to work successfully with these. No one has yet come up with a design in anything other than EPS that can withstand the weight of our appliances. EPS also looks good. It has a decent finish and that's important in our business. For a start, you have to make sure that the packaging can fit onto a delivery lorry. We also have to accommodate a wide range of cookers. For some of the larger models we must use a lot of cardboard - that's a problem we still haven't solved properly. The packaging has to protect the product and be capable of being assembled quickly in the factory. Our products go through many hands in the distribution chain. Around 80% are distributed via warehouses or major High Street retailers. EPS gives us the confidence that they'll survive the attentions of even the most over-zealous forklift truck driver! How does EPS rank in terms of value for money? It was disappointing last year to see the price go up because of increases in the cost of oil but we've seen a welcome reduction in recent months. Cost is always a prime consideration for us and we're constantly working with our supplier to drive this down while keeping the other benefits. We're currently looking at design changes which could cut material by as much as 20%. Even when you think you've achieved the optimum, there are invariably still ways to improve performance. It's important to see packaging as part of overall service to the customer. Having a faulty cooker returned costs an awful lot of money so high quality packaging is a sensible investment. If one of our products doesn't reach the end-user in perfect condition, we face extra costs of transport and re-working. Above all, we don't want a disgruntled customer. Once you lose that sale you risk losing that customer for ever. Our reputation is paramount. Do you export many cookers? Relatively little. A container load to the United States a month, plus some to Australia. How impressed are you with EPS' green credentials? The facts we've seen from our supplier and the BPF have been enlightening. We're convinced of its environmental merits. In fact, in our sales showroom we have a garden bench made of recycled EPS! I know that there are also posts on farms, replacement hardwood furniture and roof fillings made of recycled EPS. The industry has worked hard to prove to us that EPS is environmentally friendly. How do you handle your waste EPS? Very little waste is generated at our factory, and that is all retrieved and recycled by Protection Packaging which takes its responsibilities seriously. We also have the major share of the UK market in supplying cookers for new caravans and boats, and deliver to the manufacturer directly. We take back all that EPS ourselves and use the same material many times over.
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EPS Recycling forges ahead in 2000 EPS Recycling scheme shortlisted for award EPS News Interview – Graham Bonner, Stove plc
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Graham Bonner is Purchasing Director of Stoves plc, which has factories at Prescot on Merseyside and Warrington, Lancashire. The UK's leading independent cooker manufacturer, it was acquired in January by Irish heating and appliances company Glen Dimplex which also owns the Morphy Richards brand. Stoves' expanded polystyrene (EPS) is supplied by Blackburn-based Protection Packaging which has production sites in Lancashire, County Durham, South Wales and Glasgow.
What are the main challenges of providing packaging for items as large as cookers?
