March 30, 2017
As an early adopter and manufacturer of N flute folding cartons for high-count Hefty Trash Bags in the late ’80s, I learned quickly what direct six- to seven-color litho printing on a fluted substrate meant on such a high caliper (.036–.040) but very “soft” print surface, side guide, and front edge. Suffice it to say, we produced it successfully, made a lot of friends in our client marketing group, and ultimately sold N flute to them for many years. It was, however, not necessarily a very enjoyable manufacturing experience, as many of our readers might understand with a smile. Fast-forward to today’s world, and check out what has happened in the last couple of decades:
- Large format (56–65) litho printing/coating presses are producing light caliper (.006–.008) SBS top sheets that are then mounted to a single-faced corrugated sheet in-line on machines that are all capable of running 12–18,000 sheets per hour.
- The laminated sheets of B, C, E, F, or N flute are then further coated, die cut, and glued with converting equipment that once was used only for folding cartons manufactured from paperboard grades ranging from .012 SBS and CNK up to .038 CCN … and everything in between. Thus, the old days.
- The platen die cutters are equipped to handle calipers from .008 up to B and C flute, and everything in between. With the latest technological advancements in both side and in-feed electronic eye sheet registration, you can almost be guaranteed a perfect registration on each and every printed sheet that is die cut, stripped, and yes, even blanked. This is all occurring at speeds up to 9,000 sheets/hour, and perhaps even faster, depending on the calipers, job layouts, and specific carton styles.
- There has been nothing lost in the gluing department upgrades either. The technological advancements in the last decade have been equally impressive, and perhaps even more so given the extreme flexibility that must be built into the machine for folding and gluing a very specific carton design standpoint. I hesitate to say that at least three major gluer manufacturers have figured out how to deliver machines that can stand up to the rigors of what those high-speed die cutters are pumping out at them.
- Am I suggesting that all folding carton converters become corrugated converters? No … but I am suggesting that if you have the equipment that is capable of running these
items, it may surprise you how many of your clients purchase such fluted packaging as an adjunct to their folding carton procurement. Once the education and training takes place, this is a growing and particularly profitable segment of the packaging industry for many years to come. If you don’t possess this equipment, please consider it as you replace your current machinery. The added manufacturing equipment flexibility does not cost much more these days, whether slightly used or new machines are involved.
- Finally, the technological investments made by several major companies in both high-resolution direct print digital onto a multitude of high caliper fluted substrates and lower cost litho printed top sheet to single-faced corrugated sheet laminators only further secures the fact that this fluted folding carton market is growing rapidly and definitely here to stay for many years to come.
I look forward to hearing from and assisting you regarding your efforts to branch out into the fluted converting arena, and possibly moving your business forward into perhaps yet another key growth niche for your folding carton operations team over the next two to three decades.
Tom Weber is folding carton technical adviser for AICC members. Contact Tom directly about technical that impact the folding carton industry at tweber@aiccbox.org.
