BJ Ball sheets take on a new Dimension

Local paper giant BJ Ball is shutting down its Prospect NSW sheeting and conversion operation in favour of an outsource partnership with specialist supplier, Dimension 1.

According to David Chatillon, BJ Ball Papers’ NSW state manager, eight employees from the Sydney site are being retrenched, five of whom are in the process of interviewing for re-redeployment within Dimension 1.

“This option gives us access to state of the art twin knife sheeting for both board and paper, which will enable us to improve both quality and service to our customers. We will retain a full service-guillotining department at Prospect to cover our small size cutting requirements providing greater flexibility for our customers’ needs,” he says.

BJ Ball will be able to reclaim around 4,000 square meters of floor space in its Prospect site after it sells off the equipment to overseas buyers. As part of the deal, Dimension 1 will be taking some of the floor stock including all the converting reels.

Chatillon says the outsourcing deal has been on the drawing board for some time, given the age of the Sydney operation equipment and the fact that Dimension 1 offers the same service for PaperlinX. “The initial deal is for two years, after which both parties can walk away if it doesn’t work out,” he adds.

The deal will kick off 1 January first, by which point the Sydney sheeting operation will be completely shut down.

This announcement comes nearly a month after the BJ Ball purchased a 2.5m Marquip twin knife sheeter from Colorpak, which signalled the packaging company’s final exodus from its Reservoir plant. As part of the acquisition, BJ Ball will look after Colorpak’s Melbourne sheeting requirements.