September 12, 2017
I have been writing this column now for more than 10 years, and what an honor it has been to share more than 35 years in containerboard and corrugated knowledge with you. While these articles are available in both print and digital formats, it is awesome that all this is readily accessible through our search engine on the website. So much of the base technical knowledge on containerboard manufacturing history and corrugated board development is archived in written books; just continue to contact me if you choose to dig deep into a subject and can’t find it on Google.
About every three years, we publish a bibliography of articles—usually numbering around 20 since the previous update. This is the third edition of that effort, with the last one being the summer of 2014. So, what’s changed over the last 10 years? Here are a few examples: world-class papermaking technology that can clean and re-engineer recycled fiber to perform like virgin sheets; e-commerce; zero-crush converting equipment; digital printing and the speed at which it operates; 132-inch corrugators with reduced board degradation; e-learning; and the focus now on short column test instead of ring crush in describing component strength.
Some topics include:
- Old Corrugated Containers—An Overview and Primer
- A Price Index for Recycled Containerboard
- What New Hires Can Use—A Series
- The Global World of Containerboard and Corrugated
- Rightweighting, Continued
- Rightweight Packaging Hits Mexico Again
- Current Specifications for Microflute and Folding Carton Revisited …
- Linerboard Weights Continue to Drop
- Containerboard Prices Show Erosion After Long Period of Stability
- Overview of the North American White Graphic Market, Parts 1, 2, & 3
- Box Performance Estimator—A Mobile-Enabled App
- Setting Seven Performance Standards With Your Sheet Suppliers
- Science of Paper School, Part 3
- That Still, Small Voice
TAPPI/CORBOTEC
I must once again make you aware of this fantastic free technical association that has delivered so much knowledge and so many network opportunities to me—and ultimately you—for more than 30 years. These are the best minds in the business and some of the hardest working men and women in the business. There are equipment suppliers, lab managers, adhesive suppliers, trainers, corrugator troubleshooters, and consultants, all connecting to bring excellence to our industry.
The British Are Coming, the British Are Coming
The Irish are already here! And Smurfit Kappa has expanded rapidly in the U.S. Southwest and Mexico. At the time of this writing, the press announced that DS Smith of the U.K. has bought an 80 percent interest in Interstate Resources. In Europe, their focus is not only as an active acquirer of other companies, but a very lightweight component combiner and one that uses the DST torsional stiffness tester as an additional measure of box performance along with ECT. On the converting side, they create unique design structures as a global supplier to the largest CPGs. They are excellent at taking fiber out of the corrugated structure, utilizing linerboard weights as low as 20# and 18#. A new competitive force has arrived on the East Coast.
SAICA, a Spanish company, looked to have a joint-venture paper mill in the Midwest, but deferred due to new ventures that developed in the area, such as Pratt, Cascades/GreenPac, Corrugated Supplies, and recently, Kruger. All of these mills’ systems using recovered fiber produce linerboards in the 18# to 35# range.
Ralph Young is the principal of Alternative Paper Solutions and is AICC’s technical advisor. Contact Ralph directly about technical that impact our industry at askralph@aiccbox.org.
