Russ Haraf President Nosco

Russ Haraf, President of Nosco, a pharmaceutical packaging company, outlined the expansion of the company’s capabilities following two major acquisitions and how they fit into the company’s growth strategy for 2018 and beyond. Haraf spoke at the DCAT Week ’18 Member Company Announcement Forum, which was held Monday, March 19, 2018 in New York.

Haraf explained how the acquisitions of Gooding Co., Inc. and the assets of Knight Packaging Group will allow Nosco to expand its printed packaging capacity by $25 million in 2018 while remaining in line with the company’s five-year strategic plan objectives. This plan includes three main growth goals: (1) for revenue growth to reach $160 million in sales by 2019; (2) for operational leadership to add approximately 100 new employee owners; and (3) on product strategy to successfully implement a new product strategy for StretchPak, packaging for over-the-counter (OTC) brands.

Through the October 2017 acquisition of Gooding Co., Inc., a New York-based insert and outsert manufacturer, Nosco gained expanded capacity and capabilities for large runs of MicroFolders, padding, and serialized inserts and outserts for compliance with the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA), a US federal law that outlines steps to build an electronic, interoperable system to identify and trace certain prescription drugs as they are distributed in the US. Additionally, the acquisition gave Nosco 30-plus new employee owners through Gooding’s existing site in Lockport, New York. Gooding and Nosco are in the midst of combining capabilities and offerings.

Likewise, through the November 2017 acquisition of the assets of Knight Packaging Group, a Chicago-based offset folding carton printer, Nosco gained expanded capabilities for StretchPak, a $10-plus million packaging concept for OTC brands. The asset acquisition also provided Nosco with a new facility in Bridgeview, Illinois, where the assets were subsequently moved and 55-plus new employee owners were gained. The facility is nearly two times larger than the previous site and offers more capacity for growth in the healthcare space, according to Haraf.

Haraf explained that both facilities will enable growth in the pharmaceutical, pharmaceutical OTC, medical, and animal-health markets by promoting product redundancy and expanded capacity for the company’s three major product lines (cartons, labels, and inserts) with six sites. Additionally, with the acquisitions, the company is now able to offer: (1) the ability to get all printed packaging components from one provider; (2) facilities designed for lean manufacturing and maximum efficiency; (3) further service to the pharmaceutical, medical device, and natural health industries, including a cGMP-compliant quality system; and (4) full capabilities from printing to finishing, including an in-house sheeting operation.