The organisers of the Total Processing & Packaging Exhibition have announced five outstanding young industry professionals as the finalists for this year’s Ones to Watch awards. Visit www.totalexhibition.com/en/Visiting/finalists/ to place your vote today.
Going head-to-head for the top spot are Andrew Speck from Marks & Spencer, Rachael Smith from Amcor Flexibles, Jake Norman from Olympus Automation Limited, Dan Jordan from Boomerang Plastics and Michael Bass from Henkelman UK Ltd. They now face a public vote to decide who will take home the gold, silver and bronze awards at the Total Processing & Packaging Exhibition 2013 in June.
Gary Wyles, Managing Director of Festo said: “It is a pleasure to join the Ones to Watch awards panel for the second year. The awards represent a great opportunity to recognise young professionals in the industry, and commend them for their passion, exceptional entrepreneurship and commitment. Following a period of uncertainty for young skilled engineers in the industry, it is great to see so many young professionals that are truly inspiring examples of the future of the processing and packaging industries.”
Joining Gary Wyles on the judging panel are Josh Brooks, Brand Director for Packaging News and Bob Hinchcliffe, Managing Director of Quasar Automation. Hinchcliffe joined the panel after nominating last year’s winner, Mark Flintoft, adding to the insight and expertise of the panel as a whole.
Bob Hinchcliffe, added: “I feel very privileged to be asked to join the judging panel for this year’s competition and am delighted to be a part of this process. It is a great opportunity to recognise and encourage young engineers within the industry and I can’t wait to see how the public respond to the 2013 nominations.”
The awards recognise the contributions of processing and packaging professionals under the age of 35 who have worked in the industry for at least four years. All of the finalists have continuously demonstrated exceptional entrepreneurship, commitment and innovation in their careers.
Sponsored by Festo, leading suppliers of pneumatic and electronic automation technology, the winners of the awards will take home a Festo Training & Consulting workshop and be exhibited as part of the achievement gallery at the show. Gold, Silver and Bronze winners will also win additional training courses, with the Gold winner receiving a complimentary, ‘in-company’ training course worth over £9,500 from Festo’s Training & Consulting portfolio. A wide range of training courses are available for selection including people management, organisational management and technical based program training – all refined to meet the winners’ business needs and requirements.
The Ones to Watch 2013 finalists
Andrew Speck (Marks & Spencer). Andrew was appointed Commercial and Environmental Packaging Manager for Marks & Spencer in 2007. He has been instrumental in reducing M&S’ packaging waste, with subsequent packaging optimisation plans delivered by Andrew and his team quoted widely throughout the industry as a case study for change. He has implemented successful projects with Somerset Waste Partnership, Kent Waste Partnership, WRAP, The Packaging Federation (FDF) and supported the British Retail Council (BRC) and WRAP on delivering the launch of the Fresher Longer campaign as part of a wider collaboration project in 2013.
Rachael Smith (Amcor Flexibles). Rachael was nominated for her recent work with Burts Marketing Director, Leane Bramhall and the re-branding of Burts Potato Chips. Working with “Amcor Vivid”, a combination of HD flexo plates and fixed colour palette technology, Rachael was instrumental in challenging the business to adapt its processes to offer greater registration, colour density and value for money. The team at Amcor are delighted with the result and plan to enter the project in the European Flexo Industry Awards (EFIA) for Rachael’s work creating industry leading packaging that ensures high quality prints that are produced efficiently with minimum waste.
Jake Norman (Olympus Automation Limited). Jake, a former Deloitte employee and economics graduate, has had placements at Olympus Automation since 2008, joining full time on completion of his degree in 2012. Jake is responsible for strategy and marketing development and his first project saw the introduction of a mobile CRM system to communicate with Olympus Automations customers, accessed using smart phones and tablets. The deployment has enabled Olympus Automation to better understand its customers and industry needs. Jake has been instrumental in supporting new product development; using his economic background to support new product designs, including a new product which captures real-time production data and returns valuable performance information in the form of Overall Equipment Effectiveness or OEE.
Dan Jordan (Boomerang Plastics). Dan started work at Boomerang Plastics in 2009, and was quickly given the task of setting up a recycling line to show case Summit Systems’ new recycling machinery range. The main recycling line’s brief was; ‘to process food-contaminated dairy pots from Müller Dairy’s site in Market Drayton back into a useable product.’ Dan was instrumental in motivating the team and pioneering the technology behind the project, his innovative ideas and enthusiastic attitude really drove the project forward. Passionate about the ‘recyclable’ nature of plastic packaging, Dan is keen to shed more light on the small changes that can have big effect on recycling in the industry. WRAP recently approached Dan to ask him to contribute his intricate knowledge towards a ‘recyclability by design matrix’ that will be issued nationwide this summer.
Michael Bass (Henkelman UK Ltd). Before joining Henkelman UK Ltd, Michael worked with Windsor Food Machinery where he established a parts department and launched an e-commerce store via the business website. In 2013, he was approached to move to the newly launched Henkelman UK Ltd venture, setting up social media accounts and securing a number of successful sales within his first month in the role. Mike’s engineering and technical background, combined with his comprehensive knowledge of Henkelman products, has ensured he is respected by both colleagues and customers.
Who do you think should be crowned the 2013 One to Watch? Vote online today at www.totalexhibition.com/otw-finalists
For more information on the Ones to Watch awards or visiting the Total Processing & Packaging Exhibition, please visit www.totalexhibition.com or join the conversation on Twitter (@TotalExhibition) or the Total Exhibition 2013 LinkedIn group.
What: The Total Processing & Packaging Exhibition
When: 4-6 June 2013
Where: NEC, Birmingham, UK
ENDS
For more press information, please contact Beki McVicker or Simon Matthews at the Total Processing & Packaging press office on +44 (0) 20 7240 2444 or email total@stormcom.co.uk
For more exhibition information, please contact Archana Sharma on +44 (0) 20 8910 7189 or email archana.sharma@reedexpo.co.uk
