ON THE MOVE Ray Crewe-Brown retires from Mpact RAY Crewe-Brown has retired from Mpact group, where he was CEO of the plastics business. He had Ray’s ‌ previously retired from observations Astrapak, the group would be worthy he founded, but joined of a book Mpact in 2009, about six months after leaving Astra. Ray had returned to help JSE-listed Mpact guide its plastics business, which was created following paper group Mondi’s purchases of the former Lenco group plastics operation for R750-million and what was Linpac Materials Handling (in Atlantis, Western Cape) in 2007. The business included mainly blow and injection moulding companies around the country, and Mpact needed someone with experience to forge these spread out companies into a cohesive entity. Possibly the most notable achievement during Ray’s tenure was the purchase of RA Plastics of Blackheath near Cape Town, which marked Mpact’s entry to the thermoforming business, a sector where Astrapak group had become a national
leader. Overall, the similarities between the structures of Mpact and Astrapak, with both operating outstanding manufacturing units in similar market sectors, are overwhelming – with both having to juggle difďŹ cult investor and shareholder demands, mainly resulting from costs of purchases. Ray’s experiences at the respective groups would probably yield a good book, and perhaps he’ll throw light on that now? It would certainly make for interesting reading for many in the industry, and perhaps we’d all learn more from it!
Jim O’Neill retires ‌ or has he? JIM O’NEILL, the man who made it his neverending quest to know everything that could possibly be known about the manufacture Jim O’Neill ‌ of plastic bottles, has has actually ofďŹ cially retired. Well, vacated his nearly: he ďŹ rst retired ofďŹ ce at Nampak from Nampak Liquid Liquid in Cape Town in 2011, but the group wouldn’t let him go and retained his services for a further two years as a consultant. That period ended last
year and Jim did then actually vacate his ofďŹ ce at the Epping factory. Since then, however, his services have been procured by Nampak Zimbabwe and he has been assisting the production team in Harare of late. Jim is regarded as world-class authority on all aspects of the manufacture of plastic bottles, including the several different processes and materials employed, both upstream and downstream components involved as well as the skills required to do this job properly – i.e. to produce a better bottle and faster. Charles Muller has left Astrapak group, where he had been group marketing director for some years. He is taking a break for a while before deciding what to do, but conďŹ rms he will be remaining in the industry. Derek Cranston has left Technovaa Packaging Industries in Durban and returned to the United Kingdom. He is however to remain with the Technovaa group, which has its head ofďŹ ce in Dubai, and be involved with its activities in Europe. Derek had been in South Africa for 18 years, mainly with the Astrapak company Tristar Packaging in Johannesburg, before managing the start-up for the Technovaa ďŹ lms manufacturing business in Escom Road, Pinetown.
70 APRIL / MAY 2013
OBITUARY
Farewell Gary Warren CPE
WEIFANG
FLUORO ELASTOMERS
CHENGUANG
PER FLUORO ELASTOMERS TPE ,TPV AND TPR
ELASTRON TURKEY
EPS
SHINHO ,TAITA, HYUNDAI ENGINEERING PLASTICS (DONGBU) , SUSHOU CHANGLE(DONGBU Technology)
PS & HIPS
HYUNDAI ENGINEERING PLASTICS
LDPE & LLDPE
HANWHA
(Dongbu)
EVA HDPE PIPE PE 80/100 SILICON RUBBER
Shanghai Hongshen
MAGNETITE ENGINEERING POLYMERS REWORKED AND REPALETIZED MATERIALS
DH POLYMERSCC " " " " " " " """!""" "" " "
SANGIO Pipe MD, Gary Warren, died in March after taking part in the Argus Cycle Tour, an event he had previously completed a remarkable 12 times. Born in 1959, he was a keen sportsman with some 11 Duzi Canoe marathons and 12 Argus Cycles Tours under his belt. He also loved ying and ďŹ shing, but his passion was sailing and he regularly captained his catamaran ‘Gazza’ in many a race. Gary entered the plastics industry in 1993 and three years later opened Sangio Pipe with the support of his great friend Gabriel. Together they built Sangio Pipe from extremely humble beginnings to the largest polyoleďŹ n pipe manufacturer in South Africa. “Gary was larger than life. He lived his dreams. Even though he was taken from us early, he lived a fuller life than most,â€? said Mike Swanson, long-time friend. Gary in the Sangio factory in Cato Ridge, KZN, at the time of the company’s move to the larger (5000m²) premises in 2007