AEP is looking to the future more than ever

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Founded in 1996 and based in Haute-Loire, AEP Group has been developing, growing and conquering markets ever since. The plastics company, created and managed by Hubert Quincelet, is recognised in the flexible polyethylene packaging market. It has developed a real expertise in flexographic printing and has positioned itself among the French leaders in the field, with 11,000 tonnes of films printed each year. With 125 employees, it generates 50 million in turnover, 40% of which comes from exports, with a particularly strong performance in the food, hygiene and bottling sectors using mono-material that is 100% recyclable. To remain competitive and successful, AEP Group relies on a strong investment policy both in technology and human resources, based on several points in particular: a new recently launched printing range, an R&D laboratory and a training school called AEP School which was created from scratch.

 
Let’s start with the new latest generation Flexo printer. It can print up to eight colours which means it can boost the company’s production capacity, even if they are already significant. It was set up at the last industrial site, launched in March 2021, with a fully autonomous printing workshop, offering a back-up solution for customers. AEP Group insists on this aspect in particular.

 
The R&D department is on a mission to develop new solutions. It works in close collaboration with the family group’s customers to eco-design the packaging of tomorrow while using significant resources internally. Significant investments have therefore been made in recent years, with the acquisition of a laboratory extruder and the creation of another equipped with high performance measuring devices needed for product characterisation.


Lastly, AEP Group has a very strong CSR policy and has created its own training school with a clear ambition: to become a learning company and to train all employees by combining theoretical and practical knowledge with a single goal, aiming for excellence.


“AEP School was created to go further in training, making up for the lack of recruitment. It comes after a period of reflection. For several years, we tried to run joint training with several colleagues. There has always been an acknowledgement of failure. At the end of 2020, I therefore decided to create AEP School. This creation has the initial aim of improving staff competency. Secondly, the goal is to offer training that is both theoretical and practical when recruiting, on our premises, with a kind of career plan for people who follow this logic. I have a strong objective. From the first year, I want us to provide 400 hours of training for our employees. What matters to us is attracting people to us. Once they are here, we have a certain corporate culture that allows us to keep them,” said founding president Hubert Quincelet.

 
The training is provided directly by AEP Group employees who are trained in-house, which allows for a real boost in skills. “To be a trainer at AEP School, you had to be trained. Shift managers, workshop managers, a colourist, a lab technician, a chemical engineer… five training modules are in place to date, half for extrusion and the other half for printing,” Hubert Quincelet added. 


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