The acrylic coater at Frimpeks in Saxmundham

 

Few companies in the UK label and wide format markets are particularly familiar with the name Frimpeks yet, but with its media manufacturing capability and dedication to a service ethos, it hopes this will soon change. 

 

Frimpeks is a new name in the UK self-adhesive label and wide format media markets, but has already proven to be a major player in other parts of Europe, with an annual manufacturing capacity of 350 million square metres of material from three European manufacturing sites.

One of these is in Saxmundham in Suffolk, where earlier this year Turkish-headquartered Frimpeks took over part of the former Tenza Technologies facility, including its acrylic coating line. This is now able to deliver 50 million square metres of acrylic adhesive label stocks, including standard permanent, deep freeze, removable and super peel products. The Saxmundham site also includes a slitter/rewinder to allow converting services to be provided in the UK.

UK managing director Dave Casey was brought in in March 2015 to manage the operation, and he believes that Frimpeks can bring something different to the market for UK customers. ‘We will be going for commodity business such as vellum, semi-gloss, eco thermal materials and some of the basic polypropylenes,’ Mr Casey told Digital Printer, ‘but where hopefully Frimpeks will also score is that we have around 840 active constructs within the group, so we will be able to bring some special materials in and create bespoke things for customers.’

‘I believe we should have a core product range that makes up 70% of the business, and 30% based on some more specialist constructs. That way we should be able to find a little niche in the market place. While we are picking up some of the standard business, a lot of the old Tenza customers are coming back to us asking for specialist materials as well. We have lost quite a few suppliers to the UK market so we could be a bit of a breath of fresh air for some of the UK label converters.’

Mr Casey has been recruited from converting tool manufacturer RotoMetric, which he describes as having been a ‘service-led business’, and he believes the market served by Frimpeks could benefit from the same approach.

‘A lot of the small to medium sized label printers in the UK are being brow-beaten by the big companies dictating terms. Frimpeks is going to be more flexible and look to grow in the market. RotoMetric was a service-led business in many ways and I don’t see that level of service in the market place at the moment. I want to use that same service ethos as we did at RotoMetric.

‘The feedback from the market is that our competitors are very good at chasing business but then it comes down to the support. Big companies will stock a lot of products and deliver it tomorrow and charge a premium for that. It’s very much a commodity service, and when you do that the service drops. We are looking to lavish some time on customers and make sure that we fulfil their needs rather than just going onto the next one.’

Plans are afoot for further significant investment in the capabilities of the Saxmundham plant, making it more efficient and extending the range of products that it will be able to produce. As it is, the company is already branching into new directions, with the launch of its own range of wide format inkjet media for indoor and outdoor applications, including eco solvent, solvent, UV and latex products, coated with high quality acrylic adhesives, with permanent and removable options. Face materials in white, clear, grey and black are available, as are matt and gloss finishes. The product range goes up to 1520 mm in maximum width.  

This new area of the business is considered important enough to warrant a dedicated business unit called Digital Media being formed, although these products will be sold through distributors rather than directly to the market by Frimpeks. At the time of writing a UK distributor had not been appointed, but enquiries should be made to the digital@frimpeks.com email address. Manufacture of these products is currently in Turkey, but there are plans for the UK site to also start producing some 50 metre length rolls next year.

A further aspect of Frimpeks’ business is its manufacture of inks and coatings, and this will also be available in the UK in time. ‘That will be interesting for the market in that no-one else is doing that at the moment,’ said Mr Casey. He is excited about the opportunities that he expects to open up for Frimpeks in the UK, and is confident that the size and expertise of the group will make it a valuable addition to the domestic market.

‘The scale of Frimpeks is quite phenomenal,’ he said. ‘This is a big company but it hasn’t done enough to shout about itself.’

In the UK at least, that appears to be changing.