From the outset, when the company was first established in a couple of small buildings in Bradford in 1977, through to the current 100,000 square foot facility at 12 Industrial Court, Vins has been on the forefront of plastic packaging technology, building its business model on the basis of making excellent quality products that are unique to the needs of their clients, and being flexible, adaptable and able to turn around orders quickly and efficiently. This combination of high quality, customer focus and speed of production continues to set the pace for the company’s growth.
To stay ahead of the game, Vins has never hesitated to embrace the newest technology, and the latest techniques, including the current passion for less overall packaging and packaging that is more environmentally sound. Year after year, the best new machinery is sourced from across the globe, and Vins employees train to master it, becoming some of the most highly skilled industrial workers in all of BWG.
“In a sense we are a recession proof industry because everybody needs packaging. There are a lot of advancements that have been made with flexible packaging, there have been machines made to help the packaging be more environmentally friendly. We work with the equipment manufactures to actually help individualize the machines for our specific needs. We buy the machines from all around the world, and they are more and more complicated, because they are more and more computerized,” explained Mirsada Vins, daughter in law to the company founder George Vins, company owner and vice-president of business administration. A third generation, Mirsada’s two sons, are also involved in the company.
“We are very, very technical. There are other packagers in the GTA but very few have both the high technical capabilities as well as the low lead times. That’s what gives us a huge advantage because we’re able top produce high quality packaging at a very fast turnaround. Each year we put a lot of resources into research and development especially when looking at recyclables. The industry is in a constant state of change, and we’ve invested a lot of time and energy and money into staying ahead of the game.”
With a four-decade pedigree and reputation for both excellence and rapidity working in their favour, Vins said that the company does not have to do much marketing to attract business. Working primarily with customers in the food and pharmaceutical sectors – ones that require very specific packaging, often in smaller batches – word of mouth keeps business coming in steadily. Most clients are in the GTA, which is why having ready access to Highway 400 is a benefit of being in BWG, although Vins said they do have clients throughout the rest of Canada and into the United States.
Even through the pandemic, Vins kept its eye on the future and staying competitive, beginning a comprehensive and impressive expansion plan. Machinery was upgraded, as was the internal plant electrical system, while also renovating administrative offices and staff common areas. A bigger parking lot was also earmarked, and it became the focal point of Vins participation the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury’s Industrial Areas CIP program.
The Industrial Areas Community Improvement Plan was established by BWG council in 2013 to help spur investment in both the Reagens and Artesian Industrial Parks. It is based on a system of four different granting opportunities for businesses looking to locate, relocate or expand within these regions of the municipality, one of which is for a ‘Building Restoration, Renovation and Improvement Program.’ It is to this grant that VINS applied, receiving just over $50,000 which it used to expand its parking lot.
This expansion of the lot is a small part of an overall $20 million expansion program of the business as a whole over the next two years, which anticipates more hirings, thus the necessity of making more parking spaces. Currently there are approximately 85 employees.
“There were many things that we would have been eligible for, but we chose the parking lot because we were literally running out of room. So, we had to clear the area and add pavement which allowed for more parking. During shift changes it became a bit of a nightmare with cars coming in and out trying to find spaces, so this expansion will help accommodate employee parking needs now, and into the future,” said Vins, adding that she and the entire management team were very happy with the granting process and the assistance they received from the BWG Economic Development team in processing the application and the follow through of the grant.
“It was a wonderful process. The employees with the Town have been very, very supportive and just a pleasure to work with. It was the first time that we had applied for a grant of any kind from any level of government and, again, the staff was very helpful and very wonderful.”
Vins is a shining example of the sort of innovative, technologically advanced, and highly successful industries that are currently located in BWG, and which continue to be attracted to the town for its accessibility to markets, competitive real estate costs, a collaborative and co-operative municipal staff and willing workforce. Also, it is a perfect example of how industry and local government can work together to help grow business, attract skilled workers, and act as a beacon to the overall success and prosperity of Bradford West-Gwillimbury.