November 6, 2024
AICC Associate members are delivering the latest innovations for boxmakers looking for the next great competitive edge
When it comes to innovation, Dave Burgess, sales director at JB Machinery Inc., encompasses the industry’s drive toward greatness.
“The amazing thing about the business is how many and how frequently the innovations come through,” he says. “It’s a very innovative business. It makes our end-use customers think that if they’re standing still, they’re going backward. The innovations are out there, and to keep up, they’ve got to keep pushing these innovations forward.”
As innovations continue materializing, AICC Associate members shared the problems solved by their breakthroughs and how they create cultures of innovation. By working with boxmakers on research and development (R&D), automation and efficiency, sustainability, and other pressing challenges, they are driving the corrugated industry toward new frontiers.
Close Collaboration
Innovations emerge from conversations, collaborations, and R&D that turn ideas into reality.
At SUN Automation Group, innovation stems from recognizing that customers understand their operations and needs “better than we do,” says Executive Vice President Greg Jones. “We have some brilliant engineers, but we take the voice of the customer with great sincerity and react in a position of humility to bring solutions to the market together.”
SUN’s innovation process also involves observing other industries while leveraging the wealth of in-house knowledge and experience from engineers, field service technicians, and those on the manufacturing floor.
“Ideas become innovations by creatively engineering valuable solutions to customer problems and inefficiencies,” says Jones. “We collect the voice of the customer about challenges, problems, and pain points in need of a solution. Then, we brainstorm concepts and match the most valuable solution to the problem. If the value proposition makes sense for every stakeholder, we move forward.”
JB Machinery’s R&D succeeds because “we’re good listeners,” says Burgess.
“We talk to our customers about pinch points, about where they struggle. Our goal is, ‘How can we make our customers more efficient?’”
Innovations have the power to substantially decrease average run size while increasing the speed of changeover and running the order.
And although ideas are the lifeblood of innovation, not every idea floated at JB Machinery is allowed to fly. At a recent internal meeting, the team “killed a bunch of ideas because they’re not in our lane,” says Burgess. The company’s forte of press enhancements creates the parameters for ideas that move forward to R&D.
After launch, continuing the conversation leads to refinements, Burgess adds. Customers are encouraged to run the product for a time and submit their honest appraisal of likes and dislikes. JB Machinery’s AutoWash solution, for instance, is an outgrowth of the company’s 2012 AICC Innovator of the Year award winner, the KleenPlate solution, developed for all users.
EFI keeps innovation at its core as it actively identifies problems to solve or processes to improve, says Liz Logue, vice president of corporate business development and inkjet strategy. The next step is looking for creative ways to address the problem with stable, proven technology. Staying up to date on inkjet head technology and investing in innovative new inks and primers help produce the most cost-effective, high-quality output.
“EFI actively engages with boxmakers to understand the key drivers and challenges in their business,” Logue says. “We work to understand every process in their plant, understand their business needs, and listen to their concerns.”
EFI has dedicated professional services experts to support innovation initiatives, while a dedicated brand driver team educates end users on the value associated with digitally printed products.
Durst leaves no stone unturned in delivering solutions to converters by maintaining contact with “all departments of our customers,” says Steve Lynn, director of labels and packaging. “While we are in regular communication about daily production on the equipment we supply, it is important to maintain a relationship with management, sales, and marketing teams to understand their needs or challenges to see how we can help.”
Durst’s presence in other print markets provides insights that can be useful for corrugated, Lynn says. The company’s single-pass technology in use at ceramic and label companies globally “gives us knowledge of what has worked in other, more established single-pass inkjet markets,” says Lynn.
Bahmüller stays “one step ahead” by keeping in close contact with the industry and suppliers, participating in global trade fairs and meetings, and analyzing lost orders for further development potential. In this way, the company can keep its finger on the pulse of industry needs, says Benjamin Lauterbach, vice president of BTI, a Bahmüller subsidiary in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“Innovations are never plucked out of thin air but are created together with the input of our customers and their requirements,” Lauterbach says. “Once the potential for development has been identified, a new development project is started in the shape of a user workshop. Initial approaches to solutions are presented to a small, well-known circle of Bahmüller users and partners, discussed, and, if necessary, adapted.”
Under a nondisclosure agreement, the new product or machine is then brought to production with one or more development partners. Release and market launch come “only after an extensive test phase in production.”
The fact that Kongsberg PCS is gathering record-breaking orders for its newdigital cutting platform stands as “a testament to the remarkable efforts of our R&D team in developing this fantastic new solution,” says President and CEO Stuart Fox. Kongsberg PCS’ approach uses customer-centric research, preview events, and feedback sessions at all phases.
“We work closely with our customers and partners to ensure they benefit from maximum return on their investment in Kongsberg PCS technology,” says Fox. “It is important to us that we develop solutions that not only give our customers the creative freedom they need to achieve their specific goals, but that also deliver the very best user experience while ensuring maximum operator safety.”
Another recent Kongsberg innovation—its new feeder and stacker system—demonstrates the company’s development of advances in automation through the appointment of a project manager for automation and robotics and dedicated R&D teams, all with “deep knowledge and technical expertise to achieve the company’s goal of empowering customers to maximize efficiency and productivity through automation.”
Automation and Efficiency
In the never-ending search for a competitive edge and cost savings, technology and AI are driving innovations that create efficiencies through automation by optimizing machine availability, productivity, and health.
Boxmakers are using AI-generated data to inform decisions around capital expenditures, while greater visibility into productivity and machine health is improving equipment effectiveness by increasing throughput, improving quality, and reducing downtime, says Jones.
Lynn noted that vendors are leveraging AI to deliver faster, more predictive service and support. Technology is also making its mark in addressing labor shortages, improving efficiency, and enhancing safety.
Labor Savings
Automation is “critical to the future success of boxmakers,” says Logue. Innovative presses increase productivity and reduce operator intervention.
As Lauterbach says, “It is not about eliminating operators but about filling the gap and making the working environment more pleasant in order to maintain the highest production speeds and output over time.”
Reducing repetitive tasks improves ergonomics, efficiency, and accuracy while allowing employees to focus on value-added work, says Jones.
Efficiency
Competition and cost are key drivers in the constant search for innovations that create efficiencies. And corrugated converters face increasing pressures to produce better products faster, more safely, and more efficiently to meet the demands of the global market, says Fox.
The good news is that JB Machinery, EFI, Bahmüller, Kongsberg, SUN, and many other AICC Associates are pushing the envelope to help boxmakers get out ahead of those demands, whether it’s faster printing, automated plate-washing, or just simplifying operations through multifacted equipment, to name a few.
Safety
Innovations and customization keep machinery in step with strict safety standards. They can also minimize the effects of human decisions on the health and well-being of people and machines, says Jones.
Innovations that improve not only efficiency but also safety and reliability can make breakdowns “a thing of the past,” he adds.
Quality
Technology can also drive significant leaps in quality through better color matching and higher-quality design that shines on the product.
And while an innovation might be groundbreaking, industrywide impact demands scalability. Modularity allows boxmakers to acquire and scale up equipment in alignment with their space, orders, and budget.
Sustainability
With today’s innovations, sustainability is making giant leaps. In digital print, continuous improvements drive sustainability and efficiency by reducing waste and overproduction while demanding fewer harmful chemicals and plates, says Lynn.
According to Logue, EFI’s innovations in digital print promote sustainability by reducing global warming potential by 50% compared with analog printing by eliminating printing plates, ink waste, and overproduction.
Plus, Lauterbach notes, equipping machines to sustain the manufacture and delivery of high-quality boxes supports sustainability because “every delivery that is not complained about and produced again” means less waste.
Other products offer greater use of recycled, readily recycled, and other materials for greener operations, says Fox. The use of recycled materials in manufacturing and assembly, plus the incorporation of materials with lesser environmental impact “also demonstrate … a focus on a sustainable, efficient, and forward-thinking approach to production,” he says.
More efficient washup cycle times and innovations in feeders also contribute to sustainability, says Jones. Enabling original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to help boxmakers run lighter-weight board without sacrificing quality “enhances the sustainability story,” he says.
A Bright Future
What’s next for industry innovators? More innovations.
Looking ahead, JB Machinery is all-in on efficiency and quality improvements. “We’re very good about making products literally seamless to the point where they look like they were manufactured by the OEMs,” Burgess says.
Corrugated businesses have stabilized since the COVID-19 pandemic, Burgess says. With its growing reputation for sustainability, the industry is ready to surge. “The read we’re getting is that they’re ready for the reinvestment phase,” he says. “They’ve had a couple of years of trying to utilize the investments they made during COVID, and now they’re ready to start pulling again.”
At EFI, plans are underway for a version of one of its presses that outputs a stacked box, “essentially offering a digital folder-gluer to the industry,” says Logue.
Durst is expanding its range of printers “for lower investment levels to allow more digital adoption,” Lynn says. “We never stop working to improve and enhance our solutions.”
Bahmüller is “constantly adapting our products to changing market conditions and requirements,” Lauterbach says. In addition to machinery improvements, it’s vital to ensure seamless operations and productivity through service after the sale, so Bahmüller is establishing a digitization strategy based on four online-based pillars: diagnostics, reporting, analysis, and web shopping.
At SUN, Jones says, “we are always looking for areas for continuous improvement. We are never content to stand still, realizing we need to continue to bring new technologies to the industry.”
The Kongsberg PCS team is excited to showcase its most recent innovations and solutions at upcoming events, Fox says.
“We are always innovating and have a number of new production and automation solutions at advanced stages of development—but you’ll just have to wait for the announcement on those!” he hinted.
M. Diane McCormick is a freelance journalist based in Pennsylvania.
