User:Killarney Plastics/sandbox

=Introduction=

KMG Group also known as the Killarney Manufacturing Group is a global based, award winning engineering company. The group is headquartered in Ballyspillane Industrial Estate, just outside Killarney town in Co. Kerry, Ireland. The group manufactures Water Storage, Environmental, Road Safety and Composite Building Products. It has production sites in 7 locations in Northern Europe including Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and France, which services customers in 50 countries. The KMG Group currently employs 240 people and exports 75% of its products worldwide.

=History=

Killarney Plastics was founded in 1976 by Anne and Con Stack in Killarney Co. Kerry. The company started off from a small lane in Killarney manufacturing composite and Fibreglass (GRP) products which were still relatively new to the Irish market. The company also manufactured a range of products including boats and building products for people in the locality.

Killarney Plastics
To accommodate increased business, a new site was acquired and a small factory built in the early 1980’s, also in Killarney. It was then the company started to develop its own range of products such as water storage tanks and meter enclosures. By the early 1990s the company had expanded its range of Water Storage Tanks and Meter Enclosures and its first export sales were sent to the UK and Europe. This trend continued and soon after Killarney Plastics was being awarded contracts for Irish and U.K utility companies such as Bord Gais.

Growth and formation of the KMG Group
A dual growth strategy was developed involving generic growth of propriety products and the acquisitions of businesses. To help achieve this strategy Gloucester Composites was established in 1994. The function of this business was to manufacture a specific amount of products for the U.K market. Fibreglass Sales was then established to distribute raw materials in Northern Ireland in 1997. As a direct result Killarney Manufacturing Group was established in 1998 in integrate all three companies. In 1999 KMG completed its first acquisition, Technotrak, which allowed the group to diversify into the design and manufacture of civil and road safety products.

The end of 1999 saw KMG acquire two of the UK's water tank manufacturers, Dewey Waters and Nicholson Plastics. Dewey Waters based in Bristol was formed in 1956 and Nicholson Plastics with bases in Scotland and London was formed in 1968. These acquisitions effectively doubled the size of KMG. To meet the need of continual growth a new headquarters, R&D centre and advanced manufacturing facility was constructed in Ballyspillane Industrial Estate, Killarney.

Diversification
As part of the KMG Group diversification strategy, the group expanded into the Environmental Sector. A new division called Tricel was formed in 2002. Tricel was established to focus on the sewage treatment market, initially in Ireland and the U.K. and thereafter in Europe and the USA. In 2005, the KMG Group acquired A.C. Plastic Industries, a UK manufacturer of water and fire sprinkler tanks. A.C. Plastics Limited was formed in 1958. The company already had business in supplying water tanks to the Middle East and North Africa thus further diversifying the company.

Cancelled Acquisition
In 2007, the KMG Group negotiated the purchase of the GRP Cold Water Tanks section from the Balmoral Group, a scottish based manufacturer. The merger was debated by the Office of Fair Trading and referred to the Competition Commission. However, it was ruled that it would reduce the competitiveness of the GRP cold water tank market in the U.K. The deal was subsequently abandoned.

=Recent Developments=

In early 2011, the KMG Group was granted a French Government Licence for its Tricel Sewage Treatment Systems. As a result, a European factory was opened in Poitiers, France to manufacture the Tricel waste water treatment systems for the French market, which has created 15 new jobs.

=Recognition and Achievements=

2003 - Winner of AVK-TV Composites Award in Baden-Baden, Germany.

2003 - Winner of the Ulster Bank/Irish Independent Business Achiever's Award 2011 – Granted the Agrément Certification for Tricel waste water treatment systems by the French Government

2011 – Awarded European Certification (EN 12566-3) for Tricel waste water treatment system

2012 – Awarded European Certification (EN12566-1) for a Sotralentz septic tank which will be represented by Tricel for the KMG Group.

=References=