By Amy Yu, Dscoop's Community Success Manager, APJ
When visiting ePac Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, what stood out most to me was not the state-of-the-art equipment or the cool pouch-making process, or even the impressive scale of the operation. It was Ben Wood, director of the business. We could tell very quickly that Ben was not someone speaking from a boardroom script. He was speaking from memory, repetition, mistakes, pressure, long shifts, machine noise, late-night troubleshooting and years spent learning the work from the ground up. It immediately made this visit feel different to me and our group, which included Peter Barr from Photo Create (Australia) and Dennis Cho, HP Solution Architect for APJ.
It was a small group, but that made the experience more direct — less of a tour, more of a real conversation on the floor.
Ben leads operations at ePac Victoria, but he did not arrive in the role through theory. He came from the floor. He came from flexo. He came from running machines, learning systems, solving problems and building technical confidence over time. Listening to him explain the business, it became clear that ePac Victoria’s growth is not just a story about digital packaging. It is also a story about what can happen when someone with real operational knowledge helps rebuild a business the right way.
Not every leader starts with a spreadsheet
In print, there is always a difference between people who understand a business from reports and people who understand it from production. Ben belongs firmly in the second group. Before stepping into ownership and leadership, he spent years working in print operations. He trained as a flexo printer, ran Gallus presses and then moved into HP Indigo.
He talked openly about coming off the machines around 10 years ago, but it was obvious he never really left them behind. He still speaks and thinks like an operator. Ben understands what a delay means in real time. He knows what a poor handover looks like. He knows what happens when a pouch is half a millimetre out, when a colour shifts mid-run, when a material behaves differently than expected or when a team member is promoted into a role they are not ready for.
His view of the business is built from production reality.
A 3-owner structure with clear strengths
What makes ePac Victoria especially interesting is the combination of its three owners, each bringing a different strength to the business. Ben leads operations. With his technical background, understands the day-to-day reality of production, the benefits and nuances of HP Indigo, lamination, pouch-making, troubleshooting and more. A different leader, Elliot Boylan, handles sales, bringing the commercial drive needed to grow the customer base and bring in new business. The third owner, John Peat, is an industry veteran with extensive international experience. He previously held senior roles in major packaging businesses and brings strategic perspective, investment experience, and a broader view of how to scale the business.
While Ben and Elliot run the site locally, John provides high-level guidance and insight, particularly around growth, structure, and navigating broader industry relationships. It is a strong mix: operations, sales and strategic industry experience. And during the visit, it was clear that this balance has played a big role in helping the business move forward.
Why his training mattered
Ben spoke very positively about the training he received, especially in Israel. He described it as one of the best things he ever did. That was not just because it gave him technical knowledge, but because it gave him independence. He learned enough to troubleshoot, change parts, solve issues faster and support his site without waiting on others every time something went wrong.
In a business where downtime is expensive and support is not always immediately on-site, that kind of knowledge matters. But there was also another point hidden in what he said. Training changed how he saw himself. It helped him move from being someone who operated machinery to someone who understood systems. From someone who followed process to someone who could improve it. From someone who responded to problems to someone who could prevent them.
He knows where the business wins
One of the clearest commercial insights from the visit came when Ben talked about run lengths and market fit. He knows where digital works. He knows where flexo still wins. He knows where ePac has an edge. That edge is not about trying to beat everyone at everything. It is about knowing where the model works best: shorter runs, multiple SKUs, emerging brands, fast turnarounds and customers who need flexibility before they need scale.
That is another benefit of his operational background. Ben and his team at ePac Victoria are not chasing bad work for the sake of volume. They understand the type of work they can do well, profitably and repeatably. The team also understands where complexity creates value, especially when brands need variety and speed.
He is helping build more than output
Ben spoke about identifying team members who are ready to step up, sending them for training and creating a pathway for more people to grow technically. Businesses like ePac Victoria grow as internal knowledge spreads.
This is where Ben's “operator to owner” story becomes even more meaningful. He's a leader who knows what training can unlock. He believes in what confidence does for performance.
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My visit to ePac Victoria was fantastic!
Here's the main takeaway: In print, the path from operator to owner is not always obvious. But when it happens well, it can produce exactly the kind of leader a growing business needs: someone like Ben who understands the machines, the people, the process, the customers and the cost of getting it wrong.
