Photo by Jokey

European packaging group Jokey Plastik, which just inaugurated a new €11m plant in Russia, is also investing in a significant upgrade and expansion project at its Labourse operation in northern France.

Jokey France already modernised the site’s administration building last year. Now it is preparing to construct a new 3,500 square metre high-bay warehouse there to provide around 7,000 pallet storage spaces.

The new unit will provide fully-automated storage and removal of pallets and offer higher capacity, allowing shorter delivery times to Jokey France’s customers. A new automatic pre-picking system will shorten loading and resting times for delivery lorries and trailers, the firm said.

Up to 2015, part of the original administrative building was demolished and another section was refurbished, while the firm built a new office building. Jokey France is reported to have reported to have invested around €2m on that part of the overall project.

Extra space on site as a result of the warehousing and office changes will allow Jokey to expand its production area. It plans to install an unspecified number of additional injection moulding lines in the extension to enable the plant to handle future market demand.

“All these measures are targeted at convincing our customers of our excellent quality and optimum service in future as well”, explains Marcus Blumenschein, General Manager of Jokey France.

The Labourse modernisation project includes a number of energy efficiency and sustainability features. One example of this is that cooling water, heated during the injection moulding process is re-used for heating the buildings, according to Jokey Plastik.

Its French plant, which employs almost 200, manufactures around 220 million packaging pieces a year. With an annual turnover of about €59m, more than half of its output is devoted to exports.