Number 3: ROB LAWRENCE
General manager of Walls Machinery Rob Lawrence has assumed numerous roles within the packaging industry, beginning his career at Marrickville Holdings before joining JL Lennard as Technical Sales Engineer in 1979. Rob has also worked as a Technical Sales Engineer at Halco Engineering, as well as at Walls Machinery, where he was employed in 1987. Rob has been the Chair of the APMA board since 2006.
Q. What have been the most significant innovations and changes within the packaging industry over the past five years?
A. Two changes that I feel have had the most impact are the introduction of flexible packaging to replace or complement traditional rigid containers, in the form of stand up pouches, spouted pouches and sachets, and the ever-increasing demand for product safety.
The industry is now asked to supply equipment that can locate product defects, be it from foreign objects finding their way into the process, or production malfunction.
Q. What are the main trends and developments within the industry at present?
A. There is an increasing consumer demand for ready meals which, in turn, forces food manufacturers to develop new products and the packaging industry to innovate.
Q. How have you, or Walls Machinery, been involved in these trends and developments?
A. Walls Machinery and I have promoted the stand up pouch for food products over the past 15 years.
Only in the past five years has this promotion seen significant results with the growth in demand for ready meals, such as soups, sauces and retort products like curries.
Q. What do you consider the biggest threats and opportunities facing the industry today?
A. Consumer demand for product integrity and freshness has resulted in a perception of ‘over packaging’. While this requirement results in extra packaging in some cases, it is not the same as over packaging, which implies it is unnecessary.
The challenge and opportunity for the industry is to develop methods to satisfy both requirements with a single solution.
The other big challenge today is attracting people to our industry as everyone involved is finding it difficult to recruit staff.
Q. Why do you consider yourself, or why do you think others consider you, one of the most influential people in packaging today?
A. I am not sure how to answer this other than to say I have worked in the industry in one form or another all of my working life.
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