IVE has officially opened its new Kemps Creek printing supersite in Western Sydney, with managing director Matt Aitken telling guests its packaging hall is “modelled on the best examples we have seen across Europe”.
IVE has brought five business units into the purpose-built 42,000sqm facility, located within Mirvac’s Aspect Industrial Estate. The site brings together capabilities across packaging, commercial and digital print, book production, direct mail, display printing and brand activations, alongside warehousing and distribution. It includes IVE’s ambitious packaging operation, which ultimately aims to become a $150m-a-year business. IVE also has an almost identical packaging printing operation at Braeside in Victoria.
At the heart of the Kemps Creek operation are two B1 Koenig & Bauer Rapida 106X presses – a seven-unit press with double coater that will exclusively print packaging, and a ten-colour perfector that will print packaging and commercial work – as well as Bobst die-cutting equipment and a Bobst folder-gluer line.
IVE has purpose-engineered the pressroom and die-cutting foundations to accommodate future equipment, while the workflow integrates the movement of raw materials through production and despatch. The company has also allocated room for further expansion of the packaging operation.
IVE has already won contracts with two major brands, with Arnott’s and PepsiCo coming on board in June.
Welcoming guests to the opening event, Matt Aitken said: “This is the biggest investment in IVE’s 105-year history. The tools may have changed, but the mission has not. IVE is here to enable its clients to get alongside their customers.”
He said the site was designed to do more than increase IVE’s physical footprint.
“Importantly, this isn’t simply about having a bigger facility. It’s about creating a more connected operation that enables us to move faster, work smarter and continue investing in the capabilities our clients need from us.”
Kemps Creek is a greenfield site and part of the major development taking place in Western Sydney. The deputy mayor of Penrith – one of a host of dignitaries at the opening – said it was the third similar opening he had attended in the area in recent weeks.
The project was inked on Christmas Eve 2024 and represents a collaboration between IVE, Mirvac and super fund Australian Retirement Trust. The site is close to IVE’s 3PL operations at Erskine Park and its catalogue and magazine printing operations at Huntingwood and Silverwater, with access to Sydney’s major motorway network and the emerging Western Sydney Airport precinct.
Environmental features include a purpose-designed waste extraction system that enables paper to be baled for recycling, rooftop solar panels supporting on-site electricity generation, EV chargers and landscaping incorporating more than 38,000 native plants.
The opening continues IVE’s investment in its national operational footprint, which spans 25 sites across Australia.
