Next day delivery from the biggest ‘shop’ in Kent

Since the 1st April announcement of the merger of Component Force into Sinclair & Rush after their acquisition, senior management teams have been busy optimising their joint resources. But this is not the usual post-acquisition rationalisation through cuts, closures and severance. This is an exercise in positive optimisation of joint skills and resources.

For this business, bigger really is better.

By combining manufacturing and customer services into the Maidstone site and sales, stock and distribution to the Rochester site, the joint resources of both will be co-located from July to better serve customers needs across the UK and Europe.

Sinclair & Rush has become a ‘one stop shop’ for products to Protect, Package and Finish manufacturers’ and distributors’ components, work in progress and stock in store and transit.

SHOP NOW is the joint message on each corporate and satellite website. And, for products held in stock – and that’s what we technically call ‘a heck of a lot’ – for orders placed today, you get the goods tomorrow. That is ‘next day delivery from the biggest shop in Kent’.

 

So just what can be found in this ‘shop’?

This is what it says above the entrance to this virtual shop:

“Sinclair & Rush now incorporate Component Force, creating the biggest single source of Protection, Packaging and Finishing products in Europe, offering specialist plastics manufacturing operations supply OEMs and distributors with dip and injection moulded plastic, rubber & nylon caps, plugs, sleeves and hand grips from stock and engineered to bespoke order.  We also stock and supply clear plastic boxes, clamshells and tubes for packaging; and huge varieties of tube inserts, feet, castors, wheels, hinges, fastenings, locks and latches for finishing.”

And what does this mean for customers?

The important thing for existing clients who have been used to exemplary service, perfect product, competitive pricing and helpful problem diagnosis and solution – there’s no change.

For new clients, well, you'll gain the benefits that existing clients already enjoy: exemplary service, perfect product, competitive pricing and helpful problem diagnosis and solution.

If you have:

• a tube that needs a liner;
• a leg that needs a foot;
• two components that need a hinge;
• a garden tools you manufacture that need grips to enhance the product / brand;
• or if you are a global engine manufacturer needing to plug and protect vital components from invasive swarf or heat treatment;
• a distributor wanting bold branding and clear instructions on plastic point of sale packaging;
• an engineering company needing bespoke plastic dip moulded caps, sleeves or plugs …

…you’ll find the answer here: www.componentforce.co.uk and 01634 686 504.

 

…and don’t forget:

2 x Executive Officers; 1 x £350 car; 1,100 x gruelling miles – what a way to Think Plastic ~ we do

What better way to test the resolve of the MD of one leading plastics manufacturing business and the once MD of the other leading plastics and hardware stockist and distributor (now acquired by the former) than to send them out to buy a £350 car and drive it across Europe, over the Alps hairy Furka Pass and on to Monaco.

Well, that’s exactly what Peter Boulton (MD Sinclair & Rush) and Paul Gardner (CD S&R post MD Component Force – now a division of Sinclair & Rush) are doing – all in the name of one fantastic charity.

The process of acquisition is long and arduous, particularly for the heads of the acquirer and mergee, both in the long months before the event and those securing the perfect operational unity afterwards.

So, what better test of co-operative spirit than to cast them adrift in ‘an old banger’ to take part in the Maidstone to Monaco Banger Rally raising much needed funds for Parenta Trust. Parenta Trust (incorporating Fields of Life) is an innovative charity whose efforts are giving more than just hope to the children of Uganda and Kenya.

 

They drill sources of fresh drinking water and build schools for the children of eastern Africa. Each project is turned into a business. Managers are mentored to deliver sustainable resources locally, so that school, water and farming become self-sufficient within each of the communities the charity helps.

The children gain two basic assets for life - water and education - and their parents the guidance to grow and sell crops. As well as nourishing their families, they contribute financially to the running of their village schools. School managers are taught how to claim and maintain authority and charitable grants enabling Parenta Trust to move its own resources to fund and manage fresh projects elsewhere.

93 pence in every pound donated delivers sustainable help where it’s needed most – on the ground.

Paul has been involved with the charity for some time and has visited projects in Uganda. Sinclair & Rush have sponsored and supported Fields of Life (now part of Parenta Trust) activities in the past also. So it made sense for their joint venture to continue across Europe, over the Alps, to Monaco and back (hopefully!) to raise money.

Their efforts will raise a minimum of £1,000 but through your support, sponsorship and general kindness, they hope to raise much more as their old banger chugs and splutters its way to the chequered flag.

If you would like to sponsor the S&R car, we will reproduce your logo onto a magnetic sheet that sticks to the wing (it might even help keep it together) and you’ll ride the hood from 25^th to 29^th June from Maidstone through Europe, over the Alps and down to Monaco – then back, route direct for home.

In true Top Gear style, all they have to do is buy a car for £350; drive across Europe; navigate the hairy Furka Pass, switching back on themselves through hairpin bends with unforgiving drops – will £350 buy power steering – and let’s hope it has a clutch!

To reserve your logo, please e-mail paul@component-force.co.uk. If you would like to donate even a small amount to this amazing cause, just follow directions on the link, here:

These are just some of the life changing projects our team will be driving for:

 

If you would like to make even a small donation, just follow this link: https://www.justgiving.com/Sinclair7

and these children will be so happy ... 

…thank you.

 

 

 

Protect, Package, Finish – ‘discovering app after exciting new app!’

Since we completed the lengthy process of merging Component Force into the Sinclair & Rush family of global manufacturers and distributors of plastic caps, plugs and sleeves; plastic boxes, clamshells and tube packaging; and handgrips - we have been discovering so many exciting benefits and new opportunities. Our world has become very exciting indeed.

It’s rather like buying a new phone...

We clearly spent a great deal of time researching the pros and cons of this over that before ‘purchasing the phone’. And yet, now we actually have the shiny new toy in our hands, we’re discovering app after exciting new app that makes life easier and opportunities greater still.

Component Force has become a new and exciting division of Sinclair & Rush. Let’s take a look at what these changes and new service apps mean for customers old and new.

Firstly, the opportunity to source protection, packaging or finishing products and components through just one point of contact is now greater than ever before. Frankly, if we can’t find it in over 300 pages of catalogued items, it probably doesn’t exist – but that’s not a problem. If it doesn’t exist, our combined experience and global resources will either source it, or design and manufacture it.

StockCap, GripWorks and VisiPak are global divisions of Sinclair & Rush. Now, Component Force is too. So, if we click (virtually) the all new Component Force app, what will we discover:

 

Here’s a small cross-section of what you’ll find: rubber and plastic feet; castors and wheels; handles and hand wheels; hinges and fasteners; tube fittings and tube connections; street furnishings and scaffold protection; locks and latches; fasteners; cable management and edging strips; the list goes on.

And if we (again virtually) click the VisiPak app… :

 

 

...we find even more great products to add to the ‘packaging’ side of the group’s ‘Protect, Package, Finish’ promise. Clear plastic clamshells protect and package products on display at point of sale; plastic tubing is ideal for mailing purposes as well as protecting and packaging ‘sharps’ such as needles for crochet enthusiasts and drill bits etc; and clear plastic boxes are tailored to size, delivered flat to ‘pop up’ and immaculately branded for point of sale perfection.                         

 

The range of finishing products is vast, with stock items available for despatch on the same day the order is placed. Product and components not held in stock are sourced to order. Our combined technical sales team helps to ensure that specifications are clear, deliverable and that the components will satisfy their intended application. Then our extended Customer Services department follow that order and support customers through to satisfactory completion.

 

We have managed to combine: 60 years of dip and injection moulding; long run manufacturing processes; short run flexibility; an extensive product / component range in stock and to order; procurement expertise and technical sales support skills; and an exemplary multilingual customer service record.

This means that 01622 693 200 becomes the only number you need to find cost effective solutions for Protection, Packaging and Finishing.

 

 

Protection, Packaging and Finishing

01622 693 200

Sinclair & Rush Limited – the story grows on

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sinclair & Rush give a huge welcome to Component Force

We are absolutely delighted to announce a major new stage in the exciting futures of both Sinclair & Rush Ltd and Component Force Ltd. We have found the perfect fit in acquiring Component Force and welcome them warmly to the Sinclair & Rush family.

The merger of these two Kentish plastics manufacturers and distributors creates a match like the proverbial hand in glove - the corporate fit is textbook.

For those of you who don’t know, Component Force launched in October 2000 and has grown consistently over the years to the dynamic business it is today, with operations headquartered outside Rochester in Kent.

Their product range overlaps to some degree with that of Sinclair & Rush, though with notable exceptions. Both have an extensive collection of protective plugs, caps and sleeves; however Component Force deals efficiently with shorter volume orders, whereas Sinclair & Rush manufacture a combination of longer runs and / or custom dip moulding projects.

Hand grips can also be sourced from both companies, yet the options, volumes, applications, customers and manufacturing capabilities vary considerably. This means that customers now benefit from joint product / service opportunities, affording them an even bigger, broader, more cost-effective universe of plastic grip products to choose from.

Clear plastic storage, packaging, mail and point of sale products from our VisiPak division will be new to Component Force. Likewise, their ‘hardware’ range of wheels, handles, hinges and street furniture add a new dimension to Sinclair & Rush.

Component Force will immediately be able draw on our 60 years (plus) of global manufacturing and distribution, as well as the extensive plastics industry R&D to which Sinclair & Rush has been a formative contributor. We will enjoy fresh procurement skills and short run flexibility across a broader product range – and more besides no doubt.

“As part of Sinclair & Rush’s continuing expansion, we welcome Component Force into our family of companies.  We believe that their wide-ranging offerings related to product protection and component needs will greatly enhance our product portfolio and ultimately the customer experience”, said Brad Philip, President and COO, Sinclair & Rush, Inc., our US parent company.

Having merged, these two companies jointly present a cutting edge plastics manufacturing, sales and distribution business that services small to large customer product protection, packaging and finishing solutions across the UK and Europe - all wrapped in a business ethos following these two principles:

‘We are known for always striving to deliver great customer service’

            ‘Our mission is to leave our staff and customers feeling respected & valued’

31^st March 2014 – this is a very exciting day for us all and completes our vision of a corporate marriage ‘made in Kentish heaven’.

For more information please call Sinclair & Rush 01622 693 200, or visit www.sinclair-rush.co.uk

What’s in YOUR wellies?

Those of you fellow ‘Plastic Thinkers’ who follow these blog stories will know Sinclair & Rush as a formidable global force in the manufacture, sourcing and distribution of solutions in plastic to protect, finish and package your valuable products, components and works in progress.

Indeed, our new You Tube video is a succinct presentation of the same: http://youtu.be/x6jMsE-WF20.

Please, take a look if you haven’t seen it yet.

 

However, as you will have seen by the diversity of plastic plug, cap, sleeve, box, tube and grip applications covered in these stories, we are also known for our ability to create products to satisfy a huge variety of needs. Our 60 years expertise in the field helps us to think outside the box. After all, it’s only when you have the skills to make the perfect clear plastic box that you create the ability to think outside it.

Think wellies for instance. Welly key rings. Welly pen pots. Welly herb pots.

Touchline Promotions is a successful business sourcing and supplying some quite unique products for the corporate promotions  market. Many years back, Touchline approached Sinclair & Rush with a ground-breaking concept of dip moulding their promotional welly products. We made their idea a reality for them.

 

 http://www.touchlinepromo.com/

 

Take the herb pot wellies for instance; wouldn’t it be great to have your brand emblazoned on a pair of mini plastic wellies, sitting on the corner of your customers’ desks, yet changing daily as the herbs grow. Let them collect the welly set, with coriander growing on one side of the screen, pens potted on the other and their keys welly well ringed in their pockets.

Sharon in Customer Services and Jim in our Sales department have established a good working relationship with Fiona at Touchline Promotions. Special attention is paid to the batch packaging and delivery instructions which keenly reflect the need to treat the consignments as fragile so as not to cause deformation in any way.

We dip mould the boots in the colours required and Touchline brand the pots and key rings for their own client needs.

Also, possibly because of the vagaries of the promotions market with its seasonal highs and lows, we need to respond quickly to requests for additional product so that Touchline can add their own flourish when basil potted wellies become the flavour of that particular line.

The more we are able to listen to customers and understand the applications to which our plastic products are used, the better we can fit our solutions and service levels to the need. That’s why our Customer Services and Sales departments work so closely together, to make Sinclair & Rush customers as happy as they clearly are.

So, if you’re thinking promotions …think plastic wellies ~ we do.

http://youtu.be/x6jMsE-WF20

Put us to the test.

We work with manufacturing companies in the UK & Europe, who have problems protecting or finishing their products. We manufacture and supply solutions for this through a wide variety of plastic mouldings, caps, plugs and sleeves, which means they... or indeed you.... reduce the risk of damage or contamination, so your customers receive a top quality product every time.

 

www.thinkplastic.co 

 

Thoughtful Recycling – Observations and Action

It’s very difficult to ‘think plastic’ without also thinking about its impact on the environment.

The products we manufacture, develop and distribute have high content PET – polyethylene terephthalate and PVC – polyvinyl chloride, so clearly have environmental issues both in the manufacturing process (here) and post-use disposal, by our clients.

Sinclair & Rush are very proud of the outstanding quality of our protection, display and storage products and we’re also proud of the systems we put in place to manage and comply with waste disposal. Our Environmental Management Systems are fully ISO 14001 certificated and apply to everything with a potential environmental impact.

Office waste paper is recycled for re-manufacturing; toner cartridges are recycled to reuse suppliers; power use is measured and managed to maximise savings and minimise waste; and general waste is recycled to Local Authority regulation and standards.

Clearly though, by far the greater concern is the disposal of raw material not fully used in manufacture or created as a by-product of the processes of dip moulding.

As you can no doubt imagine, there are many national and international directives relating to the chemical processing and the safe handling, storage and transportation of the chemicals used in manufacturing our own liquid plastics and the disposal and recycling of waste and by-product.

Perhaps the most influential directive is REACH from the Health and Safety Executive. This acronym stands for the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation & restriction of Chemicals and is a European Union regulation governing the acquisition, import / export, transport, storage and handling of chemicals. This classifies Sinclair & Rush as a ‘downstream’ user of chemicals – which most manufacturing companies will be to some degree.

As far as the actual disposal and recycling of plastic waste is concerned, well that’s a huge subject in itself and one we follow closely.

Disposal, recycling and remanufacturing of PVC waste is an industrial learning curve of global proportion. As the need for product continues to grow, the need to find ways to effectively recycle its by-product and post use waste grows exponentially.

All of the plastic waste at Sinclair & Rush is collected by specialists for recycling and remanufacture. Technically our responsibility stops there, though our interest and thoughts do not. What does happen to PVC waste and how can it be re used?

The scale of the research to develop safer and more accessible recycling techniques is massive and the world is learning and improving all the time. Whilst landfill is still the authorities’ first port of call, we all know it’s a short term option in a heavily populated shrinking world.

Activity higher up the scale (above) has lower environmental impact, though techniques are costly and the recyclate needs a high degree of purity and pre-sortation at the point of entry. The biggest developments are in the fields of Mechanical Recycling and Feedstock Recycling both of which re-engineer the waste to useful purpose.

‘Feedstock’ (not what you give to cattle) is the term given to the raw materials used in the production of PVC – Carbon, Hydrogen and Chlorine. Through high temperature treatments known as PVC pyrolisis, useful feedstock can be recovered from the waste.

At 250-600C, the process splits chlorine atoms from the PVC waste when sodium hydroxide is added. This produces sodium chloride, or salt, which is used in many other processes such as generating chlorine for the production of new PVC. At 600C, the PVC chain breaks down to release useful hydrocarbons used instead of oil or gas, again to make new plastics.

Mechanical recycling (here’s an excellent (short) You Tube video that sums it up: http://youtu.be/xNNnP86N_kE)

Mechanical recycling takes the PVC waste through a process of pre-sortation, cleaning, cutting, chopping and grinding to create various grades of re-usable PVC pellets and powder. These are used to make pipes or in vinyl flooring where the colour and purity are less important. AA quality powder is a purer product used in higher quality PVC manufacturing … so the cycle goes on, reducing the environmental impact by prolonging the viable life of PVC.

Think Environment ~ we do.

Put us to the test.

We work with manufacturing companies in the UK & Europe, who have problems protecting or finishing their products. We manufacture and supply solutions for this through a wide variety of plastic mouldings, caps, plugs and sleeves, which means they... or indeed you.... reduce the risk of damage or contamination, so your customers receive a top quality product every time.

www.thinkplastic.co 

 

  

Opening Kent’s ‘Gateway to Europe’

It’s that time again when we digest the closing year (along with the turkey) and consider resolutions to enhance the business year ahead. Sinclair and Rush is no different and there will be much to share with you over the coming months. 2014 is going to be great for this ambitious plastics manufacturer.

Last month S&R’s MD, Peter Boulton, joined other Kentish businesses at the UK Trade & Investment’s South East initiative to help Kent manufacturers broaden their horizons beyond the Channel. Of course the concept is nothing new to Sinclair & Rush UK and Europe who already have a positive and expansive presence in continental Europe. Well, it’s only natural for an international company to have realistic international presence.

“Economic research consistently shows companies who export to any country, in any financial climate, perform better than those who don’t” said Lewis Scott, regional Director at UKTI South East, at events held in Maidstone in November.

Latest HMRC statistics reveal that the South East continues to be the biggest regional exporter, with the total value of exports for the first half of the 2013 from the region alone amounting to some £22.6 billion.

As part of its ongoing policy for growth, S&R are actively seeking sales and customer service representation across Europe. Linguistically, operationally, logistically – the skills and resources are already in place to facilitate enquiries and plastics solution to industry wherever they may be.

European Partners are invited to introduce their operational experience and business credentials, BUT, it is vital that they understand and share the strong corporate ethos that Sinclair & Rush stand by

 
“We manufacture and supply a wide variety of plastic mouldings
that protect, package and finish the products that our customers' make
so that they get to deliver a top quality product every time.
We are known for always striving to deliver great customer service.
Our mission is to leave our staff and customers feeling respected & valued.”

“We’re ready, in fact we have been ready for a long time and the time is right to get out there and do something about it” said Peter Boulton. “We couldn’t be better placed in Maidstone to take advantage of the rail and road links to Europe. And we couldn’t be better prepared for growth with our manufacturing resources and skills. River Medway traders have been thinking outside of the UK box for centuries. It’s time we took advantage of the opportunities our forebears opened for us, even before Turner painted this Medway scene from Rochester in 1822.”

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

from everyone at

Sinclair & Rush

 

www.thinkplastic.co