An aerial view of Nelipak's plans for its first flexible packaging site in the U.S.

An aerial view of Nelipak’s plans for its first flexible packaging site in the U.S. [Illustration courtesy of Nelipak]

Nelipak plans to open a new flexible packaging production site in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Cranston, Rhode Island-based Nelipak makes rigid and flexible packaging for medical devices, pharmaceuticals and other demanding applications.

The 110,000-square-foot facility will be a brand-new Class A industrial building. It’s expected to open in late 2023. The property will be built out to Nelipak’s specifications for healthcare packaging production, including ISO 13485 certification and ISO-7 clean room space.

It’s the company’s first flexible packaging site in the Americas. Nelipak’s flexible packaging products currently come from three European production facilities.

“This site will allow us to provide the same high-quality healthcare flexible packaging products we currently offer to customers worldwide from a new world-class facility with new state-of-the art equipment,” Nelipak CEO Pat Chambliss said in a news release. “Important factors in our site selection include an attractive geographic location within North Carolina’s growing life science cluster, an available new building, a regional emphasis on training and education, a skilled local workforce, and an overall favorable business climate for healthcare-related manufacturing.”

A rendering of Nelipak Healthcare Packaging's planned facility

Nelipak expects to open its new flexible packaging facility in 2023. [Illustration courtesy of Nelipak]

Nelipak anticipates the project’s capital investment will total $20 million and create around 80 jobs over five years.

Nelipak said its healthcare flexible packaging product line includes custom-designed roll-stock, die cut lids and sheets, pouches and bags. These products incorporate a range of material substrates — such as films, Tyvek, papers and foil-laminates — as well as Nelipak’s range of heat-seal coating technologies, Nelipak CR27 and Nelipak SBP2000.

Nelipak has 1,400 employees and 11 sites globally. It has six sites in the U.S. and Costa Rica and five sites in Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.