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Bell Incorporated uses its offset and flexo printing expertise to grow in a highly competitive folding carton market.
September 2006 by Tom Polischuk
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The Face of Packaging Innovation™, that’s what Bell Incorporated calls itself. More importantly though, it’s not just a slogan, but a key element of a business philosophy that has been at the heart of its success since Mark Graham, president and CEO, bought the company in 1976.
At that time, Bell Paper Box Company had one full-time employee, less than $40,000 in sales, and a customer list that could be counted on one hand. Graham, however, recognized the entrepreneurial opportunity presented by the fragmented state of the packaging industry in the mid-1970s. During the next two-and-a-half decades, he used an overriding focus on innovation, meeting customer needs, and reducing costs to build the company into one of the ten largest independent folding carton manufacturers in the U.S. Along the way, Graham changed the company’s name to Bell Incorporated.
Today, the company has 200 employees and operates out of two manufacturing facilities in Sioux Falls, S.D. It supplies products to markets that include packaged foods, fast/convenience foods, consumer goods, and courier envelopes. According to Ben Arndt, VP of operations, the company has a dominant position in the courier envelope market, with a commanding market share of more than 80 percent.
Arndt credits the company’s success on the decades-old philosophy first established by Graham, but says the philosophy is fairly simple to express in words but is more difficult to put into practice.
“We know that we can’t continue to be the low-cost provider for our customers without also being the low-cost producer, so we invest in the latest technologies and lean manufacturing practices to run with unprecedented quality, speed, and efficiency,” he states. “A customer-focused workforce that aggressively seeks continuous improvement is a top asset in this pursuit.”
Because of its focus on being an innovative, low-cost, high-quality provider, Arndt believes Bell is an especially attractive supplier for large national and multi-national clients that can partner with them for multi-year periods. And this type of customer/supplier relationship can pay big dividends to all parties.
“This commitment allows us to make significant investments in customized equipment and services to consistently drive costs out of their packaging conversion process—confident in our ability to make up for the investment through our relentless focus on increasing efficiencies,” says Arndt.
Bell has recently seen the culmination of a successful 5-year plan in which it experienced sales growth of more than 50 percent over the final three years. This most recent plan saw the company focus on long-run business from major regional and national packaged goods companies. It especially focused its efforts in the convenience and fast-food sectors.
At that time, Bell Paper Box Company had one full-time employee, less than $40,000 in sales, and a customer list that could be counted on one hand. Graham, however, recognized the entrepreneurial opportunity presented by the fragmented state of the packaging industry in the mid-1970s. During the next two-and-a-half decades, he used an overriding focus on innovation, meeting customer needs, and reducing costs to build the company into one of the ten largest independent folding carton manufacturers in the U.S. Along the way, Graham changed the company’s name to Bell Incorporated.
Today, the company has 200 employees and operates out of two manufacturing facilities in Sioux Falls, S.D. It supplies products to markets that include packaged foods, fast/convenience foods, consumer goods, and courier envelopes. According to Ben Arndt, VP of operations, the company has a dominant position in the courier envelope market, with a commanding market share of more than 80 percent.
Arndt credits the company’s success on the decades-old philosophy first established by Graham, but says the philosophy is fairly simple to express in words but is more difficult to put into practice.
“We know that we can’t continue to be the low-cost provider for our customers without also being the low-cost producer, so we invest in the latest technologies and lean manufacturing practices to run with unprecedented quality, speed, and efficiency,” he states. “A customer-focused workforce that aggressively seeks continuous improvement is a top asset in this pursuit.”
Because of its focus on being an innovative, low-cost, high-quality provider, Arndt believes Bell is an especially attractive supplier for large national and multi-national clients that can partner with them for multi-year periods. And this type of customer/supplier relationship can pay big dividends to all parties.
“This commitment allows us to make significant investments in customized equipment and services to consistently drive costs out of their packaging conversion process—confident in our ability to make up for the investment through our relentless focus on increasing efficiencies,” says Arndt.
Bell has recently seen the culmination of a successful 5-year plan in which it experienced sales growth of more than 50 percent over the final three years. This most recent plan saw the company focus on long-run business from major regional and national packaged goods companies. It especially focused its efforts in the convenience and fast-food sectors.
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