Based in Westertown, Scotland, the family-run business Mackie’s of Scotland has been operating in the dairy farming industry for over 100 years. In 1986, following various expansion programmes, the company also started producing ice cream. Furthermore, in addition to producing its own ice cream, the company has also recently begun manufacturing packaging – a process supported by the excellent machines from Netstal.
The managing director of Mackie’s of Scotland, Mac Mackie, has long nurtured the desire for “in-house production” of the company’s own ice-cream tubs. So at the beginning of 2008 he visited a packaging solution trade fair, where he met Nigel Baker, CEO of Netstal Limited, UK (a subsidiary of Swiss machine manufacturer Netstal-Maschinen AG).
Netstal quickly recognised the needs and requirements of Mackie’s of Scotland and a brief demonstration of the all-electric ELION range at the trade fair also gave Mac Mackie an initial impression of the high performance capability of Netstal injection moulding machines. Netstal-Maschinen AG boasts a wealth of experience and has already provided support to numerous injection moulding fledglings.
As such, a meeting at Mackie’s premises in Westertown was swiftly agreed and focused on learning more about Mackie’s business activities, meeting employees and, importantly, understanding the reasons why Mackie’s wanted to produce their own ice cream tubs. Mac Mackie and his siblings – already the fourth generation to have managed the family-run business – also run farms in Westertown, while the company is also consistently seeking new ways to protect its well-established brand and increase its value.
The family has been active in the dairy farming industry since the turn of the 20th century. In 1986, the long-established company expanded and started producing ice cream. Chairman Maitland Mackie has always lived by the motto “no change – no chance”, an attitude he has successfully passed on to his children. Indeed, this year will see the rollout of a new range of potato crisps.
Projects such as the one described above bring one of Netstal’s core strengths into play. Thin-walled packaging applications from the “PAC” (packaging) business unit consolidate the expertise of sales and application technology into a single team. Furthermore, Netstal is specifically regarded as a dependable, pioneering partner for IML (in-mould-labelling) solutions – thereby meeting Mackie’s needs down to a tee. In addition, Netstal’s reliable automation partners also guarantee ready-to-go plug & play systems; or to put it simply, you plug the machine in and it runs.
Given Mackie’s remote location and lack of injection moulding experience, this fulfils yet another important company criterion. Very early on in the development phase, the relevant Mackie’s employees were invited down to Netstal Limited in Stone, Staffordshire, UK. Amongst other things, the Scottish company was taught how to operate a Netstal machine and learnt how user-friendly the injection moulding machines were. During a further stage of negotiations, detailed meetings were held that addressed product design and the drafting of machine performance criteria in addition to an agreement being reached on project goals.
To ensure that these goals were met and indeed exceeded where possible, Netstal presented comprehensive and detailed reports. The definitive system acceptance tests proved extremely successful! The exceptionally high performance targets set by Mackie's in terms of lid and tub production systems were not only achieved, but exceeded!
Thanks to its global activities, Netstal has a sound knowledge base and broad experience, which consistently guarantees state-of-the-art technology when it comes to machine-tool automation. As such, we provide customers with a secure, stable and user-friendly production platform. Moreover, constant support throughout the entire project phase augments the excellent relationships that Netstal carefully maintains with its customers. In February 2010, the ordered systems were installed in Scotland. Netstal also offers comprehensive customer support, in turn enabling the company to provide Mackie’s with an expansive post-project service. Specialists at our headquarters, and indeed all our locations, provide extensive customer services in relation to machine purchases, thereby securing cost-effective production. In the form of the Netstal Support Concept umbrella brand, Netstal also offers a comprehensive range of services following machine installation. Unbureaucratic and rapid customer service and a spare parts service that delivers within 24 hours in Europe and 48 hours worldwide, are just two of the many service products provided by Netstal
