Latest News

Manufacturing over 500msms of corrugated board each year from five corrugators means a programme of ongoing maintenance and investment is vital to maximise our operational efficiencies.
Whilst Eurocentral is home to the newest corrugator in the UK, our other four corrugators (2 at Coalville and 2 at Preston) required additional investment to replace aging parts and minimise future downtime to maximise our output through increased capacity and greater production efficiencies
Frank Hay, Group Managing Director, Board24 and Cases24 explains what investment has taken place and the positive impact it will have for customers.
Strategic Maintenance
Strategic maintenance and investment is a key part of our strategy to ensure we are operationally efficient and after a busy, yet challenging, 2024 it was apparent these upgrades needed to take place to ensure we remained operating at a reliable level of capacity.
Our senior leadership team agreed the upgrades were necessary to release capacity on the production line, increase run speed, reduce downtime, and improve product consistency.
The replacement of obsolete equipment with more automated and reliable machines was also a key factor.
As a result, the investments have seen the safe purchase, installation, and commissioning of new equipment for Corrugator 3 at our Preston site including single facers and splicers to reduce risk.
These upgrades have allowed us to increase the average run speed by an impressive 19%, reduce downtime by 254 hours per year, and reduce waste by 0.54%
Additionally, there have been investments in voltage optimisation and the introduction of new paper grades to further enhance the product range we offer and manufacture, bringing greater choice and reassurance for customers.
Complementing Eurocentral
Whilst the investments at our Preston site have been more significant, the investments are not just for Preston. Our Coalville site has seen investment to address obsolescence in electrical infrastructure, effluent management systems, temperature process control, starch application and preparation and improve dispatch reliability.
By co-ordinating investments across all three sites and viewing the upgrades as a group rather than individual sites, we have added even greater resilience to our production capabilities complementing our newest corrugator at Eurocentral.
This allows us the ability to manufacture a wide range of board grades, popular across the sheet plant sector giving all our customers access to high quality board, shorter lead times and enhanced reliability.
Operator and customer benefits
The upgrades have led to improvements in product consistency, reduced stoppages, and higher splice success rates, resulting in less production challenges and reductions in warp and delamination. Operators have also benefitted from enhanced safety measures and better working practices.
For our customers, the upgrades mean improved quality and greater production capacity, which helps in reducing lead times and enhancing the ability to manufacture different board grades.
Customers can expect better product consistency and reliability which in turn helps them with their own operational procedures at sheet plants across the UK.
The investments have significantly enhanced our operational flexibility and contingency planning. With the ability to run E flute, M flute and double-wall fluted products on three corrugators across the group, and all corrugators running B flute and C flute, we have undoubtedly strengthened our production capabilities.
This complements our investment in Eurocentral last year, further bolstering our infrastructure and positioning us as the leading independent corrugated sheet board manufacturer in the UK.
By having five corrugators in three different locations, we aim to provide security of supply to our customers, ensuring consistent and reliable service even in the face of unforeseen challenges.

