Astrapak wants 22 new senior managers

The group says "in many ways" the appointments define Astrapak's vision of the future. The process is being driven by recently appointed chief executive Robin Moore‚ and group managing director Manley Diedloff.

The separate operating companies are being merged to form five main divisions comprising moulding‚ polyethylene terephthalate‚ thermoforming (heat treatment)‚ flexible plastics‚ and development.

"Five years from now‚ we're aiming to be one of the leading plastics packaging companies in Africa and a world-class performer by any benchmark‚" Moore said.

"We're changing the (group) structure and appointing senior people who can help lead the way on crucial issues‚ like rapidly evolving technologies‚ as well as consumer trends in packaging‚ quality‚ safety and sustainability," Moore said.

The group makes packing for a wide-variety of uses‚ including soft drinks‚ alcoholic beverages‚ detergents‚ cosmetics‚ pharmaceutical products‚ edible oils‚ rope and shadecloth.

Moore said Astrapak had engaged in mergers and buy-outs over many years‚ but there had been no strategy to harness these businesses collectively.

"Our restructuring plans create the necessary alignment and synergy‚ so that we're able to optimise the group's manufacturing capability‚ human resources and national footprint to deliver better customer service and grow market share‚" he said.

He said the re-organisation was really around the group's management structure but would include capital investments over time.

The group said the restructuring announcement was an "important signal" to shareholders who had been "disappointed" with its under-performance in past years.

Last month‚ Astrapak's East Rand plastics operation‚ which makes plastic film and bags for a variety of products and markets‚ was damaged in a fire. The recycling speciality films and primary printing unit were "severely affected".