NETWORK BOOST FOR PLASTICS INDUSTRY ON ISLAND OF IRELAND
January 2008
The first all-island network for the polymer and plastics sector, set up by cross-border business development body InterTradeIreland, has been officially launched with a training session in Bangor, Co Down.
Activities planned by the Polymer & Plastics Network, which has the support of the Northern Ireland Polymer Association and Plastics Ireland, include training workshops in lean manufacturing, best practice visits, the development of an online brokerage service and a dedicated website – www.polymernetwork.com.
InterTradeIreland Strategy and Policy Director Aidan Gough said that establishing the network was the first step in implementing the 18 recommendations of the organisation’s report: A Competitiveness Analysis of the Polymer and Plastics Industry on the Island of Ireland.
“The report highlights the fact that North/South cooperation offers a unique source of competitive advantage to the industry as it strives to meet common competitiveness challenges,” he said. “The challenges include the need for training and up-skilling, better industry-academic cooperation to develop new products and processes, increased levels of innovation and better access to information and help.”
The training session took place at Munster Simms Engineering Ltd, brand leaders in the supply of pumps and water systems to the marine and leisure markets worldwide. It was supplied by First Polymer Training, which is based in Athlone, and made possible through the joint InterTradeIreland/Skillnets pilot All-Island Learning Networks initiative.
Among those who welcomed the new network were NIPA chair Hugh Ross, Managing Director of Canyon Europe Ltd, manufacturer of trigger sprays, industrial sprays and global dispensers in Co Antrim, and Plastics Ireland executive council member Dermot Gates, Managing Director of Boxmore Plastics, manufacturer of containers for the food, drink, chemicals and healthcare sectors in Co Cavan.
Mr Ross said: “This is something that the industry as a whole on the island has been crying out for for a long time – the best way forward is by working together to get better results. Before, we were very much segregated between North and South and one didn’t know what the other was doing.
“Research has highlighted the lack of innovation and collaboration, so this is real progress. As a result, we will be able to collaborate with academic institutions and other companies and look at best practice on the island as a whole.”
Mr Gates said: “The Polymer & Plastics Network opens up a whole new series of possibilities for the industry on the island. It means, for instance, that with the sharing of knowledge and resources, someone in Cork could source a product from someone in Antrim that they were previously getting from outside the island.
“Our industry is a very competitive one and networks like this have been shown to strengthen how other countries do business across the world. In a way, we are just copying what has already shown to be hugely successful elsewhere.”
