How do you keep your business competitive?

 Dave Gray interviews James Stanton, commercial and operations director at Distrupol, to find out what material challenges processors are facing, as well as the next generation of novel and innovative resins.

DG: You’re celebrating 60 years in business – what’s the key to your success?

JS: It’s undeniable that the true success of Distrupol comes down to our people. We’ve always managed to maintain a family feel to our business, despite our exponential growth since our establishment in 1963. Our people are our priority, and every single team member is personally dedicated to seeing the business thrive. To demonstrate the point, we’ve got multiple team members who have been with the business for 20-30 years plus, which says to us that Distrupol is a place where people are happy!

DG: Another big anniversary is Interplas, which celebrates 75 years this year. What will you bring to the show?

JS: This year we’re thrilled to be celebrating a milestone anniversary alongside Interplas, and we want to take this opportunity to celebrate success, longevity, and the evolution of the plastic industry during this time. We want to demonstrate how far the industry has come, along with its innovations, pioneering developments and shine a little positive light on an industry that has received its fair share of criticism and negativity in recent times.

DG: What challenges are your customers facing right now?

JS: As we know, the industry is under ever-increasing pressure to prioritise sustainability in all aspects of its operations. From the materials used, to manufacturing processes undertaken, to life cycle analysis, disposal, and more, we know our customers are facing unprecedented demands to re-engineer their products to meet growing sustainability criteria.

DG: And how can you help solve them?JS: As full-circle solution providers, we support our customers throughout the entire design anddevelopment stages of their product(s) life.

From product design and material selection, to prototyping, manufacturing processes, testing, and beyond, we help customers meet and exceed their sustainability targets. Our close-knit relationships with key supply partners mean we can bring the latest sustainability technologies to customers to differentiate them in the marketplace.

DG: What are some of the most unique, novel resins you’re supplying lately? For which types of application?

JS: We’re very excited about how producers are continuing to revolutionise their existing and emerging portfolios to make them more sustainable. Delrin Renewable Attributed from DuPont, Hytrel ECO B from Celanese, Recycl-IN and biomass materials from INEOS, Trifilon fibre-filled materials, Dryflex Circular & Dryflex Green TPEs from Hexpol, are all examples of unique and novel materials that we offer to customers across our business to design and produce incredible, sustainable products from life-saving medical equipment to the latest EVs, children’s toys to wearable consumables.

DG: How do you keep your business competitive?

JS: The added value we provide our customers with keeps us competitive in a currently rather volatile marketplace. Product pricing, availability, and operational costs aside, what we provide our customers in terms of customer service and support, product solutions and technical expertise, and premium logistical power, differentiates us.

DG: How has the turbulence of recent years impacted Distrupol and its customers?

JS: The turbulence of the pandemic and subsequent ongoing recovery forced us as a business to lookat areas outside of our strengths and current success. We have had to think differently, work differently, adapt to different practices and update some of our conventional patterns to allow us to stay flexible in a changing workplace and marketplace. We’ve been mindful of providing a continuous service to customers, who have faced their own volatility. Whilst our existing customer and suppliersand providing them with the outstanding service that they’ve become accustomed to remains ourpriority, we have also taken the opportunity to explore alternative markets and geographies.

DG: And as a follow up, what is the future looking like?

JS: As mentioned, our future is looking bright as we excitedly launch businesses in new geographies ,including Egypt and the USA. We are taking ourselves from European leader to global leader and our suppliers are excited to share this journey with us. 2023, the year we celebrate our 60th anniversary, has been incredibly challenging thus far, but it has also provided us with great opportunity to think outside the box, even further broaden our horizons and ready ourselves for the next chapter of Distrupol.