Anthony Pratt, the executive chairman of packaging companies Visy Industries and Pratt Industries, has encouraged other businesses to invest in expansion rather than boosting dividends to shareholders.
The Australian, which visited Pratt Industries’ Beloit, Wisconsin factory, reports that Beloit, the company’s newest factory, is rolling out robotics at this site as the first step in a $200 million deployment of such automation.
“You need to take a 20-year view of robotics,” Pratt told The Australian.
“From our point of view Beloit produces 135,000 tonnes of product from 98 people compared to the 200 employees at a conventional plant.”
Pratt, who Forbes estimates is worth $US 4.2 billion, challenged other businesses to “invest in real things” such as capital assets and innovation.
According to its website, Visy has “120 sites across Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and Vietnam and trading offices across Asia, Europe and the USA.”
Image: Forbes