Orem packaging firm is wrapping up profits

From the humble beginning of working on a kitchen table to being housed in a $2 million, 40,000-square-foot building, Traco Manufacturing Co. has come a long way and plans to expand even more as supply and demand dictates.

John Palica, president and founder of Traco, retired from playing baseball with the Minnesota Twins some 14 years ago and was looking for something to fill his time as well as bring in a little income.He began experimenting with shrink wrap, a relatively new process of wrapping and sealing. He purchased a little table-top machine, some wrapping film and began his trials, errors and learning, literally on his kitchen table. It worked, and soon he was in business, starting small and expanding quickly. His company now employs 50 people and operates from a building at 1325 W. 620 South, designed to expand even more if needed.

Traco is now the only full-line packaging house south of Salt Lake City and can supply end users with packaging materials and/or equipment for their needs. In addition to the shrink-wrap materials, it carries a complete stock of corrugated boxes, tape, bubble wrap, equipment and supplies. The company caters to walk-in customers, as well as the large companies it regularly ships items to.

A few years into its operations, it became evident Traco was going to expand, and the company had to make a firm decision concerning the marketing of its products worldwide. It was evident at the time that there could be a large market for its products. It opted to take a chance, and soon its presence in Europe and Canada, as well as the United States, was strongly felt.

As Traco's business has expanded, customer demands required it not only carry a full line of materials, but the equipment to operate and use them. The machines are not built and assembled at Traco's Orem plant, however, but are contracted out, coming from different parts of the world. Thus, Traco has become partners with other manufacturers of same-type machinery.

The Polyolefin film Traco uses is `food grade,' which means it doesn't contain harmful properties that could penetrate and harm the foods. The regular PVC film cannot be used for food but has a wide variety of other uses, ranging from wrapping videos, toys, tools and very large items such as pallets of lumber, household appliances, etc.

Thinking they would like to do something creative and appealing with what was perceived as a dull product, workers began experimenting with tinting the film, even stamping figures and designs on it. Because of this, a new service was born: wrapping fruit baskets. Traco contracts with several companies that sell fruit baskets given as gifts. They furnish the baskets and Traco wraps them.

"Our industry isn't glamorous but necessary," said Ron Moore, Traco vice president. "And oddly enough, our company grows in downturns because vendors pay more attention to their packaging when business is down."

For more information about Traco, call 225-8040.