Winner of the 2024 PKN Women in Packaging Manufacturing Leader Award, Ellie King is a manufacturing engineer at Orora Gawler, one of the biggest beverage glass production facilities in the southern hemisphere. Lindy Hughson caught up with her on a recent site visit, to see first-hand how this industry changemaker operates.
When I visit Ellie King at the Orora Gawler facility on a hot October day in the Barossa Valley, it’s as clear as the sky is blue that she is in her element in the manufacturing environment – as comfortable in her overalls as she is in her own skin.
King’s career path has been anything but conventional, transitioning from groundbreaking academic research to leading operations at Orora’s Gawler glass beneficiation facility, and now transitioning into a role in the main glass bottlemaking plant.
With a background in mechanical engineering and applied physics, King’s early career saw her contributing to the Nobel Prize-winning discovery of gravitational waves at the University of Adelaide. As a key player in the team, she worked on the intricate details of temperature changes in optics due to laser heating, a pivotal element in the project’s success. However, after completing her PhD (and by now a mother of two), Ellie chose a different trajectory – one that would bring her closer to the practical, hands-on world of manufacturing.
King picks up the story: “While I was writing my thesis, I picked up a bit of work manufacturing lasers for eye surgery at a company called Ellex and I found I really enjoyed it, because instead of working on these problems that took years and decades to solve, it was very day to day. There'd be a problem that someone needed solved yesterday, and you'd jump in and fix it, and then move on to the next one. It was deeply rewarding. I knew I had found my place and wanted to stay in manufacturing.”
Orora’s gain
Her next step was transformative. Appointed as the operations manager at Orora’s state-of-the-art glass beneficiation plant in Gawler, Ellie played a critical role in the plant's journey from inception to full operation. Opened in late 2022, the facility processes used glass bottles into cullet – recycled glass that is re-melted to create new bottles. This plant sits at the heart of Orora’s sustainability efforts in Australia, with a company goal of 60 per cent recycled content in new glass bottles by 2025, a significant step toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing energy efficiency.
By all accounts, King’s leadership at the plant has been nothing short of exemplary. She was responsible for setting up the operational framework, including recruiting a skilled workforce, establishing safety and maintenance protocols, and driving a culture of continual improvement.
King is quick to point out it was a team effort. “I didn't do it alone. There was a project team that was managing the construction. The turnkey plant was there to support the technical process. But it's one thing to have the equipment and the switch to turn it on, but then there's all the stuff that fits around it: Where do people go? What equipment do they need? So, I was involved with developing the operational procedures to make sure that the team’s day runs smoothly.”
Under her guidance, the plant's operational capacity steadily increased, resulting in more recycled content being processed and returning to the market. Orora’s achievement of 50 per cent recycled content in FY24, up from 31 per cent in FY21 before the plant became operational, underscores King’s impact in helping drive circular economy goals within the industry.
Her approach to process optimisation is data-driven, with a focus on identifying and eliminating operational inefficiencies. She asserts that in any operational environment, a culture of open-mindedness underpins success. Applying this to her experience at the beneficiation plant, she says, “It was important that people were open to experimentation from the outset. The equipment worked well, but when you start up a new plant, not everything goes to plan. There were some technical challenges that we had to overcome in the first year, with machine modifications to be made.
“The technical challenges are the easy bit, it's getting people on board with making those changes and being willing to experiment when you don't know what fix is going to get you the outcome, that’s the real accomplishment.”
King also played a key role in the implementation of closed-loop recycling systems in collaboration with Orora customers, ensuring that waste glass is continuously returned to the facility for reprocessing. These initiatives represent groundbreaking advancements for Australian manufacturing, helping to set new standards for sustainability and circularity in the industry.
Path forward
In her new role as manufacturing engineer tasked with learning the ropes across all the functions in the main production facility, King continues to focus on process improvement projects, including the on-site oxygen-fuel furnace designed to cut emissions by 20 per cent. When it’s commissioned, which is expected to occur at the end of this year, the furnace will be one of the top 10 per cent of energy efficient furnaces in the world.
King has flourished working in a traditionally male-dominated field, using her technical expertise and people skills to drive innovation and improve plant efficiency. She speaks passionately about the rewards of manufacturing, from tackling technical challenges to fostering team collaboration.
Looking ahead, she is eager to further her knowledge of glass production and lead new product developments, while continuing to drive Orora’s sustainability goals. Through King’s clear vision, her impact is already visible, and the future holds even more promise for both her career and the industry she is helping to shape.
This article was first published in the November-December 2024 print issue of PKN Packaging News, page 28.
