Plastics & Rubber World - July/August 2019 - 25

plastics ireland

is split with the game developers. If Cartamundi is to bear the full burden, there
must be some "quid pro quo", in that there
must be a guaranteed order volume.

Changing materials

"If there's one key change in the business,
I'd say we're probably going to see a reduction in the amount of plastic we use,"
says Paul Townley.
While flat cardboard pieces don't have
the same appeal as plastic characters,
when production costs and volumes are
taken into account they're considerably
cheaper. And it plays into the current
trend to reduce overall plastics usage.
Townley: "Typically, the [game] tray is
the same size as the box. But in a lot of
cases, a smaller tray is being used, which
is housed in a cardboard frame. It doesn't
look as good, but it's a response to the
market."
Using recycled plastics is an option,
but those would have to be closely monitored. "All our plastics have to be checked,
they're bought by parents for their kids
to play with. They have to be safe," says
Lennon.
He adds that the company has looked
at using bioplastics for some trays, but
has yet to decide whether that material
has any long-term potential.

automation aCross produCtion

The company uses automated bagging
systems to package individual playing
pieces. Some products are collected for
packing in a centralised bagging system,
supplied by a series of feeders. Elsewhere,
moulding machines have in-line baggers.
"We're using a new, in-line system to
package pieces for the Connect 4 game,"
Townley explains.
"The automation helps to cut labour
costs," says Lennon. "That's the biggest
differentiator between us and a factory in
China, where expenses related to labour
would be considerably lower [than in Ireland]."
A second automated assembly line is
due to come online in July. Lennon reveals
that while getting the new hardware in
place and operational will cost more than
€1m, the addition will help to speed up
production.
The new automation should secure
the future of the plant, Lennon says, with
the upgrades needed to improve overall efficiency. He continues: "We've been
through rounds of redundancies in 2007,
2010. People understand that the investment is needed to make sure the plant
stays here; investment in automation is
the only reason [the plant] has been here
so long."
Cartamundi has not made any moves
to take production back into Belgium,
says Lennon. That goes back to the wage
bill being potentially higher there than in
Ireland, plus all the required expertise to
manage the complex product portfolio is
already based in Waterford.

market growth

While it might be assumed that board
game sales would be taking a heavy hit
from competing formats, such as video
games, according to Stephen Lennon the
company has experienced some considerable growth over recent years.
"Since 2015, sales have been off the
scale," he says. "Spending £20 or £30 on
a board game is not much, it's not a purchase you have to plan for. I think some of
this is parents realising they're not interthe thermoformer at Cartamundi
acting with their kids anymore due to the
amount of screen time."
A part of this success could be traced
back to game mechanics, which have
come a long way from a simple roll of the
dice or spin of the wheel. To demonstrate
this, Lennon presents 'Ticket to Ride', a
game which Cartamundi recently started
to produce in Ireland.
"If you're in any way into board games,
you should invest a few bob in this one,"
he says with a laugh. "This is what's called
a 'gateway' game, it has some light strategy but it's a lot of fun. This game has reautomation is common across the
ceived a lot of positive reviews online. To
plant, including product packing
date, it's sold about 8m copies."
Distributed by French company Asmodee, Ticket to Ride is part of a push
by Cartamundi to broaden its customer
base. Lennon: "We've been tasked with
approaching other publishers to sell the
capabilities of this facility, make as many
games as we can.
Hasbro is still one
of our biggest customers, but we
want to diversify
the product lineup. We want to be
a contract manufacturer instead of
a company-owned
operation."
As part of this,
Cartamundi
is
looking for new
projects, but those
would have to fit
seamlessly
with
the existing seasonal
business.
"We're
busiest
between September and November, preparing for
Christmas," says
Connecting the pieces
Lennon. "Any addiDiscover our wide range of medical
tion would have to
polymer solutions that will help you bring
fit around that."
your products to the market faster and
But the preferwith more confidence.
ence is to get more
games being produced in the plant.
"Unless the opportunity is a great fit
for the plant, I think
we should concenCONTACT US TODAY
trate on building
UK: T +44 (1925) 750 320 | medical@ultrapolymers.co.uk
Ireland: T +353 1 902 0310 | medical@ultrapolymers.ie
on our expertise,"
www.ultrapolymers.com
he says.

Your trusted
partner from design
to manufacture

729052-UP-Healthcare-Ad-A4-V2.indd 1

july/august 2019 | WWW.PRW.COM

07/09/2017 09:20

http://www.ultrapolymers.com http://WWW.PRW.COM

Plastics & Rubber World - July/August 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Plastics & Rubber World - July/August 2019