Firm's success comes in any shape or size

By PAULA OLIVER

You may not be able to see him, but there is a good chance Ron Cave can lay claim to being in your bathroom right now.

Not that he has an unhealthy interest in the little room - rather Mr Cave makes those shiny plastic tubes and containers that house the world's finest cosmetics.

His Glenfield firm, Tubepack, may be worlds away from the pages of Vogue magazine, but receiving another export order this week proves that a small and flexible Kiwi company can compete on the world stage, he says.

Tubepack was hatched in 1980 and now has an annual turnover of $12 million. It employs 130 people making tubes and roller-ball containers for cosmetics and deodorants.

Eighty per cent of its products are exported to Australia, the US and Europe.

Names such as Estee Lauder, Yves St Laurent and Old Spice are plastered on Tubepack's containers when they finally hit the shelves.

Mr Cave admits that engineering the company's growth has not been easy but attributes a lot of it to a can-do attitude and building a reputation as a problem-solver.

"Whenever I travel overseas to meet people and try to capture their business, I always ask what their problems are," he says.

"If I can go away and come back with a solution, nine out of 10 times I'll get some kind of business from them."

One example occurred in the US when Tubepack representative Wilma Carvill was scouting for business and met a man with a problem.

He was to go to air in 10 weeks with a series of television infomercials for a male hair product, but had nothing to put it in.

Mr Cave and Ms Carvill designed a smaller version of a talcum powder bottle, with more holes in the top, and made it within the tight timeframe for the man.

Their effort has yielded several orders, including one worth $500,000 this week.

"That's where we have a point of difference that wins us business," Mr Cave says.

"There are other companies that won't do runs of less than 30,000, but we will, and we'll do the artwork on the container as well."

He says Tubepack does not try to compete on price but in the niche of high-quality, innovative design.

After assisting the company through the 1980s, Mr Cave and his wife bought it in 1991.

He says the local cosmetic manufacturing industry had been quite strong in earlier years, but cuts to tariffs sent many companies to Australia.

He was working towards building the business overseas when disaster hit in 1996 with the closure of a Proctor & Gamble plant.

"They had 40 per cent of our business, and all of a sudden it was gone."For the first and only time we had to let some staff go, and I spent a lot of time in hotel rooms up and down Australia trying to replace their business."

Fortunately the company had been working on new designs that Mr Cave was able to dangle in front of a prospective buyer.

"It was hard, but we've built up the business again, and replaced the staff that went," he says.

"We've learned from it and no client now holds more than 12 per cent of our business."

It is easy to get caught up with a big client who wants to order more and more, Mr Cave says, but there are dangers associated with it.

If he had to pinpoint the reasons for the company's recent success, he would highlight a strong customer service team and the commitment to developing staff skills.

Surprisingly, Tubepack has no sales staff.

Mr Cave says business has grown through word of mouth, which is partly due to the customer service team being more than just order-takers.

Five representatives are free to handle orders, check artwork and make final decisions for the client, which results in strong relationships.

A series of staff training schemes has also been established, including one that brings in tutors from the Manukau Institute of Technology to teach conflict resolution, communication, and English as a second language.

"I love having young people around because they stimulate you and argue with you over an idea," Mr Cave says.

"There are a lot of skilled positions here, and I just feel so proud when one of our apprentices, or somebody else, does well in their course."

After entering the plastics industry in a hands-on role, Mr Cave says he was fortunate to learn from some masters.

"I've been very lucky to have some great teachers. One was Bill Foreman at Trigon, which used to own this company.

"That man could see opportunities where others always saw obstacles, and now I find myself repeating many of his positive remarks to my own staff."

Mr Cave acknowledges the difficulties that many small businesses have in securing a first export and says it is a tragedy that there is not enough help for them.

"Our first export was Old Spice deodorant sticks, and we did it through getting an export dispensary grant.

"We made the money, but the support is just not there for small business."

Mr Cave says he could turn Tubepack into an enormous success if he had more money.

Dividends have not been taken out of the business for some time, the preference being reinvestment.

Many of the machines in Tubepack's factory have been developed onsite, leading to lower costs and better efficiency.

Mr Cave plans to expand the business and the recent acquisition of local firm Plastic Solutions, which makes moulds for the cosmetics industry, shows the line he intends to follow.

After working closely with Plastic Solutions' owners for many years, Mr Cave was worried when he heard they had decided to leave the business.

Rather than lose their skills, he bought the company and offered the owners an attractive job.

He is eyeing further investments, but will not say where.

Mr Cave is adamant Tubepack will stay in New Zealand.

"I have thought about a move, but the good staff we have and the fact that I'm a Kiwi means we'll be staying here.

"I will be investing further, but I don't know if it will be here - that will depend on the political climate."

After years of working in the background, Tubepack is ready to flourish.

Mr Cave says he is considering putting an agent in Australia, where his two main competitors are based.

His big dream?

"I want to put a plant into America. But I've had my products on the pages of Vogue and that rates pretty highly."