The copacking industry doesn’t enjoy the best reputation for service and delivery. But Wyepak are determined to stand out for delivering a higher standard of service. We spoke to Production Manager, Colin Green about what makes Wyepak stand out.
Hi Colin, can you explain what you do at Wyepak?
My job title is Production Manager; I’m responsible for ensuring that we deliver each and every customer order on time, and to the highest standards. Basically, I’m responsible for everything that happens in the warehouse and on the factory floor, from scheduling the work in, to ensuring we have the optimum production line configured. And I make sure we have the right team on site to deliver the job efficiently.
So everything from planning the work in, to dispatching the jobs on time – that’s me.
So what sort of packing does your team do?
It’s really varied – from liquid filling to contract packing. Large runs, small runs. Coding, barcoding and labelling. And re-work; we need to be really flexible. So the machinery set up is designed to be quickly configurable to pretty much any job, and we have a flexible workforce – it needs to be because some days we may have ten people on the line and on other days it may be half that – or double. Plus we take pride in being able to deliver on jobs at really short notice – flexibility is key if you’re going to offer that kind of service.
So with so much variety, how do you maintain quality?
Well we’re ISO accredited which means we work to clear, certified systems that everyone has been trained in. But more than that, everyone on the team takes genuine pride in what they do – they really care that the finished product is of the highest quality. Plus, when we use agency staff, they’re all people we know and who understand the way we work – it’s taken a long time to build a pool of reliable people but we have a great team here.
When you say ‘really care’, what does that mean in reality?
It means that we always put ourselves in the customer’s shoes. If they were able to be here, overseeing their job, what would they do? We try to be the eyes and ears of our customer – it sounds a cliché but we treat the product like it was our own. We take ownership of the job.
And we communicate with our customers just like we would if we were in the same building – if we spot a potential problem, we flag it with the customer as early as possible and discuss potential solutions, always bringing our expertise to the conversation. We solve problems for our customers.
We always remember that we’re dealing with products and brands that are either going to be seen in a retail environment, or unboxed in customers’ homes – so they need to look as attractive as possible. We’re always mindful of brand reputation, so we’re constantly thinking – how is this going to look? How is this going to perform?
OK, so you’ve talked about a number of things you do well as a business. If you had to settle on just ONE THING that makes Wyepak stand out in the market, what would it be?
It would be the communication we have with our customers. I think that makes us different. And the quality of the work – which is second to none. And the flexibility… sorry, that’s three things!