Star Tissue UK has boosted its production capacity by 30% after completing a two-year investment project at its Blackburn, UK-based site.
A new 70,000 square foot warehouse has increased the company’s plant to more than 160,000 square feet.
It will accommodate a fourth production line supplied by PCMC and Stax Technologies.
The line will produce 800 rolls a minute packaged in various pack sizes and will be able to wrap toilet rolls in paper.
Khalid Saifullah, Star Tissue Managing Director, said: “This is a very special machine with many new innovations.
“I would say that it is the most flexible machine on the market and designed with our specific needs in mind. It allows us to stay ahead of the market in quality and innovation.
“The building work and installation of the machine were delayed due to the Covid lockdown – we were hoping to be up and running in June.”
The company was established by the late Allah Ditta who started to sell toilet rolls to market traders in the eighties.
It is now run by his sons Abid Ditta, Sajid Saifullah and Khalid Saifullah.
Star Tissue specialises in the production of hygiene paper products for the food, leisure, hospitality, office, industry and medical sectors.
It also manufactures medical rolls, roll towels, wiping rolls, centrefeed rolls and other specialised cleaning system products.
Saifullah added: “Our products are mainly used in businesses across the UK and Ireland, so the lockdown impacted them adversely as most of these sectors had to temporarily close down.
“Star Tissue used this time to further invest in our infrastructure and develop our workforce to prepare the site and staff for the new production line.
“With the lockdown now over, demand for our products has increased and we are now well prepared to deal with the surge in orders our customers are receiving.”
He said that the new machine also offers innovative packaging opportunities, including going plastic free, so that the company can offer more environmentally-sustainable packaging for its customers that require it.
He added: “We are already looking at further automation in our warehouse and logistics operation, so we can dispatch products to customers a lot faster.
“This includes automated guided vehicles and shuttles, and supplying real time information to customers.”
