Dulux invests almost $30m in local manufacturing

27 August 2009

Dulux invests almost $30 million in local manufacturing

Long standing Kiwi paint maker Dulux has confirmed its commitment to manufacturing in New Zealand announcing a $28 million investment in its Hutt Valley-based operation today.

Dulux - which has been manufacturing at the site since 1939 - is starting a major construction project to expand its water-based manufacture and to reconfigure the site for better traffic management, safety and logistics.

“The new facilities will set the direction for our future in New Zealand while also improving the efficiency and safety of our day-to-day operations,” says Dulux New Zealand General Manager Patrick Jones.

Dulux is investing almost $16 million to rebuild and expand its water-based paint manufacturing operation including introducing greater automation and monitoring at its existing onsite water treatment plant. The remainder of investment will include replacing and expanding its storage and distribution facilities.

“We’ve enjoyed great support from our staff, customers and the local community so we’re thrilled to be improving our facilities and making a long term commitment to New Zealand manufacturing.

“The new plant will ensure that Dulux continues to be an innovative and leading supplier of water-based paint products to the New Zealand market. Key parts of our operation will also be repositioned so all our processes are better integrated to improve the working environment for our people and make our whole operation more efficient,” says Mr Jones.

This year’s winner of the ACC-sponsored Wellington Gold Award for workplace safety, Dulux says some of the key benefits from the investment would be further improvements to onsite safety.

“We’re bringing a lot of the loading and unloading areas under cover so our people are not exposed to the elements, and have organised the site so trucks delivering or collecting product are not operating in same area as our own forklift drivers,” says Mr Jones.

Construction will begin in October and will continue in stages until mid-2011.

Dulux is part of the Orica consumer products group and in 2004 opened a new call centre on the Gracefield site to manage all customer orders from throughout Australia and New Zealand for Orica consumer products.

ENDS

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