Since its commencement in 1987, Just Paper Tubes has been evolving sustainably year after year. When we first started subcontracting for Rigid Paper back in 1987, we just had a small production facility with a few staff, and barely any storage capacity. Throughout these decades we, at JPT, have focused on investing in our production, and people around it in an attempt of serving our clients better. Our effort throughout the years has paid off, making JPT the most technologically advanced manufacturer in all of the UK.
2020 has been a busy year for JPT, mainly due to the COVID19 outbreak. When the whole world is struggling to cope with the “new normal,” JPT has kept its operation up and running 24 hours a day to meet the high volume paper tube requirements for the COVID19 fighting tools, including face masks, testing kits, pharmaceutical drugs, food labels, and vaccine development. We’ve also supported local NHS facilities in their fight with PPE Donations. We know the fight is not over yet, and we vow to contribute our bit in the coming weeks and months as well.
At this point, we would like to briefly share the story of our journey and how we invested in our resources in becoming a name that our clients are never hesitant to put their trust in.
Investment in production:
After starting our 24 hours production in 1989, we had added two production lines and two recut machines to expand our production in 1991. All of that happened after we moved to Cliffe with bigger premises to ensure increased production capacity within a shorter time. The following year, we built a 300m2 warehouse for storage. The warehouse had helped us in keeping a ready stock always available, minimising the lead time for faster product delivery.
In 1995, we put our focus mostly on distribution. We increased the number of owned transport and hired external transportation companies to help our distribution match our production capacity. In 1997, JPT production facility had its first-ever automatic recutter machine. This investment had significantly improved our overall production efficiency.
With the increasing demand, we had expanded JPT production site by almost 3 times and purchased 2 brand new lines to bolster production in 1998. In 1999, we had equipped our production capacity and started offering stock monitoring services at customers’ premises using cameras, which was revolutionary at the time. .
2000 started with a big leap towards IT advancement. We launched our first website. Going forward, we had redesigned and remodelled our website to ensure better communication with our clients, but we always consider our first website to be a landmark in our journey forward. In the same year, we started providing recycling and reprocessing solutions to our customers.
To boost the production of label cores and tape cores, we invested in two German Brodbeck Recutter machines in consecutive years, reaching our target production mark of millions in 2002. Fast forward to 2011, JPT had already been producing millions of paper cores and tubes a month, with improved storage capacity and minimal lead time. To advance our technological ability even further, we had decided to partner with Eberle, a machine manufacturer in the same year.
Aiming at turning the whole factory into an eco-friendly one, JPT had replaced all oil heating systems on-site with a new biomass plant in 2014. Plus, 100KW solar power generator was installed for electrical needs. 2015 was an IT revolution at JPT! We had invested in new IT infrastructure, enabling digital readiness, implemented a new computer system for world-leading traceability and production management. In the same year, we had implemented a barcode scanning system, opting for a paperless solution.
In 2016, we aimed at implementing better control of production and warehouse facilities which had resulted in a reduction in lead time. With an urge to expanding warehousing capacity for finished goods, we started the construction of a new warehouse in the following year, expanding from 300m2 to 1200m2 with climate control. We opened our new warehouse in 2018. It was a positive leap towards our business growth, since, the automation and integrated systems started providing us actionable business benefits. For the convenience of our customers, we launched our first virtual visit to a cardboard tubes factory in 2019, which proved to be a big help for our clients during 2019-20 COVID19 pandemic period as well.
Investment in People:
At JPT, we have always believed that our staff members are the main driving force to our business growth. Considering that, we have invested over the years behind the people who run the show. To mention a few, during the 2008 recession that hit Western Europe, we put our bet on the capacity of our human resources and managed to survive without reducing any of our team members. In 2016, we launched an apprenticeship program, inviting young school leavers, training them to stay future-ready. We’ve always had a culture of nurturing talent internally with no glass ceilings due to education levels.
As a result of our relentless effort in the development of resources, JPT was awarded the Responsible Business Champion 2019 for Selby and Ainsty Constituency by the "All-Party Parliamentary Corporate Responsibility Group" in the UK Parliament. This recognition just before the wake of COVID19 had inspired us to do more of what we do best.
The decades of success for JPT has been crucially backed by our valued clients. Without their support and encouragement, it would’ve been a tough task to be done. We take inspiration from our core values that put our customers in the centre, ensure quality and reliability, and lead us towards a competitive edge.
