At Biddeford box-maker Volk, growth drives recent $8M investment
Courtesy / Volk Packaging Corp.
New box-making machines — a flexo folder-gluer and a rotary die-cutter — are designed to expedite customer service and meet growing demand.
After investing $7 million in operation upgrades in 2020 followed by a facility expansion in 2021, Volk Packaging Corp. has made an additional $8 million investment to improve its capacity and capabilities.
The family-owned and -operated corrugated sheet plant, based in Biddeford, added a large box-making machine called a “flexo folder-gluer,” along with a new rotary die-cutter that includes a printing function.
The $8 million investment was financed primarily through Bangor Savings Bank with the balance financed through Equipment Finance Corp. out of Alpharetta, Ga., CEO Derek Volk told Mainebiz.
Both machines are designed to expedite customer service and meet growing demand. Volk Packaging serves customers throughout New England, upstate New York and eastern Canada.
“We purchased a new flexo in 2019 but never imagined our business would grow by almost 50% between 2019 and 2023,” said Volk. “We need more machinery to live out my grandfather’s mantra that ‘our customers are our bread and butter.’”
The Apstar HG2 line of machines were obtained through Haire Group, a Merrillville, Ind., provider of new corrugated converting machinery.
The flexo folder gluer includes functions such as a die cut station, a station to manage scrap and a system, called a “duel servo slotter,” that provides flexibility in how material is cut. The goal is to install it this fall.
The rotary due-cutter has features such as computer-controlled repeatability and precise five-color print accuracy. The machine is set for an early winter 2024 installation.
“The addition of these new machines will increase our capacity and further supports our commitment to customer success,” said Volk.
Haire Group’s director of national accounts, Tim Wilson, said he worked with Volk and his team to collectively identify the best machinery solutions for the business.
“With the installation of the two new Apstars, Volk Packaging will be able to continue their nearly 60-year tradition of providing the best service in New England to their 1,000-plus customers,” said Wilson.
The addition of the new machines is expected to increase Volk’s capacity.
The Volk facility will also serve as Haire Group’s Apstar showroom for the Northeast.
Volk said his company will also be installing a high-speed, efficient production line utilizing equipment from other manufacturers, that will include conveyors, transfer carts, robotics, bundlers, double-bundlers, unitizers, a bundle breaker and a stretch wrapper.
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