As Uteco prepares to celebrate the opening of its third major plant in Italy as well as the expansion of its ConverDrome centre, its CEO met with the UK’s Queen Elizabeth II at the anniversary of an International Greeting Group plant in Wales.
Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visited the factory on 30 April to mark the plant’s 35th birthday, at which its second Uteco Diamond HP flexo press line was also officially launched.
The International Greetings Group is a world leader in the gift paper sector with plants all over the world. Uteco machines are installed in its plants in the UK and the Netherlands and feature in its worldwide investment plans.
Meanwhile, Uteco is preparing to mark its 30th anniversary by inviting its main customers to help celebrate the opening of a third major Uteco plant in Italy as well as the enlargement of the company’s ConverDrome, an R&D and technological excellence centre.
A series of initiatives are planned for the anniversary of the company’s foundation in 1985, including an open house and demonstrations focused on the latest technological advances in printing and converting.
The Uteco Group aims to continue in 2014 the growth trends that in 2013 resulted in a 30% rise in sales volume and an even greater improvement in financial and economical assets over the previous year.
A continuing expansion would enable the group to ramp up its large ongoing investments, not only in new production and R&D sites, but also in a strategic strengthening in human resources, starting with the hiring of mechatronic engineers across engineering, lean manufacturing and service both in Italy and the rest of the world, said Uteco.
During the royal visit to the International Greeting Group plant Peretti illustrated the plant’s new Diamond press to the Queen and also introduced the Uteco Group to the Duke of Edinburgh.
The royal couple were also able to view the machine in production and to see some of the plant’s products. During their visit they unveiled a plaque to commemorate the event that also mentions the inauguration of the Uteco machine.
More than 80 of the Uteco Group’s 2,700 installed machines were sold in the UK to multinational groups and to small and medium-sized converters for advanced technological applications in fields such as film, paper and cardboard packaging and also banknote security.