history |
a tradition of innovative thinking |
The Early Years
Creative Forming, Inc. was founded in 1972 in Ripon, Wisconsin. Always a company with high aspirations, Creative has grown to become a respected name in the Thermoforming Industry with a national reputation for design expertise, excellent customer service and exceptional quality.
1980s
The eighties began a time of exciting growth for Creative. We expanded our customer base, entered additional markets, invested in new equipment and moved into a new building.
As sales increased, Creative began to develop a national customer base that valued the innovative packaging designs created by our design engineering staff. Our entry into the Customer Products Market provided exciting new opportunities for us. We developed close partnerships with our customers and became an integral part of their new product development teams. We learned that by taking good care of our customers, we would grow with them.
We took a major step in 1987 when we acquired our first extruder. Extruding sheet in-house soon became a competitive advantage that would position Creative for future success.
1990s
By 1990, Creative began expanding its capabilities by pioneering the use of Recycled PET (RPET) in new packaging applications. RPET provided our customers the crystal-clear look of PET at a reasonable price point. ALPHATEC EXTRUSION® was soon established to process extruded RPET for Creative Forming’s internal use as well as for sale to outside customers.
Creative Forming and ALPHATEC EXTRUSION® made history by being the first plastic processor in the nation to receive an FDA letter of non-object for the utilization of RPET in food applications. This new material paved the way for the introduction of many new environmentally friendly packages in the Food and Consumer Products Markets. It also allowed Creative to expand into the Produce Market with a line of clamshells targeted at the Strawberry and Blueberry Markets.
Here, now and beyond
As Creative entered the new millennium, we decided to continue to position ourselves for growth. Targeting the Consumer Packaging, Food Packaging and Food Service Markets we have made major investments in our business. In 2000, we expanded our plant with a 50,000 square foot addition, and immediately purchased a new state-of-the-art extruder. In order to keep pace with our packaging customers’ requirements, we have continued to expand our thermoforming capacity. We have added three high-speed thermoformers in the past three years to increase forming quality, speed and accuracy.
As Creative Forming looks toward the future, our intent is to continue to grow faster than the market. Standing in place is not an option. We constantly look for ways to improve efficiencies. Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma have become a way of life at Creative. Our entire organization is dedicated to providing innovative packaging ideas to help our customers drive higher sales. Our commitment now, and in the future, is to help you design innovative packaging and bring it to market on time and within budget.