CPI picks up speed as it re-enters the race

The CPI board are set to continue the recovery process that has occupied the past two years of the company, in which time it has undertaken a significant restructuring of its business dealings.

Two important turning points for CPI were reached with the acquisition of specialist paper company Boomerang and the divesting of its warehouse facility in Sydney. In an interview with Robert Eastmant in the latest issue of Pulp and Paper Edge Bernard Cassell, managing director, conceded that the company made some poor decisions, one of which was the choice to expand into prepress several years ahead of a technical revolution in the sector. Cassell also feels that management in CPI became too autocratic towards the end of the 1990's, with too many of the decisions allocated to central control.

Some of the challenges that lie ahead for CPI include the continued rebuilding of the company during of a period of global oversupply of paper, as well as the added difficulty of the Australian dollar rising above 70 US cents. While restructuring is set to continue, CPI claims the process is almost complete with staff now focused on customer requirements and relationships.