Oji Fibre Solutions (OjiFS), one of Australasia’s leading producers of market pulp, paper and fibre-based packaging, with aligned logistics and paper recycling services in NZ to help it close the loop on its value chain, opened the doors to its Brisbane facility to Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) members via a virtual tour.
OjiFS creates shared value by harnessing the strength of sustainably-managed NZ-grown radiata pine to produce quality products that are used every day in households and businesses across Australasia, as well as in 30-plus countries around the world.
Proudly part of the global Oji Group – the fifth largest pulp and paper conglomerate in the world, OjiFS has the stability, strength and support to grow in the Australasian region.
Through the virtual tour on 26 October, AIP members learnt more about the company, how its 10 packaging plants and six distribution centres across Australasia support primary industries, and witnessed how corrugated packaging is manufactured at its 5-Star Green Star-rated packaging and converting facility in Yatala.
“We capture all of our water to reuse within the facility, we’ve got solar panels on the roof to run the facility, and all the materials used in the facility are all sustainably-sourced and certified products,” explained Tim Slade, state operations manager for Queensland at OjiFS.
“The facility itself also has a number of certifications, such as the ISO 9001 Quality Management System, ISO 45001 Health and Safety Certification, FSSC 22000 Food Safety Certification, as well as having FSC-certified paper used in our products.
A few short years since its commencement in March 2018, OjiFS’ Yatala facility now delivers on average 1000 pallets from customers as far away as Coffs Harbour, to Far North Queensland, and over into Darwin.
With a total budget in excess of $100 million, the Yatala facility was designed to service all of the packaging segments across Queensland, in particular, the high-performance applications in sectors such as horticulture, meat, protein and cold chain.
“Beyond the build details themselves, the functioning of the overall site and the business comes down to the capability and dedication of our operational teams, our logistics teams, and our customer service staff,” said Wolf Lorenz, general manager for packaging Australia at OjiFS.
“Over the past two years, that team has managed to deliver products and services of the highest quality standards in the most challenging business environment that we’ve experienced.
“I’m confident that collectively, they will continue to support the business’ objectives, and our future success will be underpinned by our corporate values of partnerships, innovation and future focus.”
The facility utilises OjiFS’ fully-certified FSC papers, liners and mediums to generate packaging solutions that meet the most demanding of applications across both the domestic and export supply chains.
The 35,000sqm facility has been designed with a number of sustainability features, such as utilising stormwater harvesting and renewable energy, as well as a 100 per cent closed loop manufacturing recovery for all production waste.
The site is also fully-food service-certified with safety and food hygiene accreditations in place in order to meet the most demanding applications for direct food contact for its food service clients.
“All of our products are designed to give the optimum pallet efficiencies, so the distribution channels are maximised for ensuring optimised pallet efficiencies during the supply chain,” explained Jason Cairns Lawrence, state sales manager for Queensland at OjiFS.
“Also, the papers we use come from mill in NZ, and they give us high strength capabilities, even in lightweight-grade solutions. The strength of our papers is key to supplying a product that is fit for purpose, fit for export, fit for complicated supply chains, whether frozen or chilled.”
The team at OjiFS work closely with its customers to find out what their requirements are, in order to find a fit-for-purpose sustainable corrugated packaging solution.
“This is achieved by working closely with our skilful and experienced team at OjiFS, who have many years of experience within the packaging industry,” added Sheahan Perera, account manager at OjiFS.
“We also work on value engineering by identifying the need for improvements within the supply chain, which is then collated and analysed by our design team to deliver a better packaging solution for our clients.”
