July/ Aug 2022 BoxScore: 2022 Midyear Converters Roundtable

A PUBLICATION OF AICC, THE INDEPENDENT PACKAGING ASSOCIATION

July/August 2022 Volume 26, No. 4

2022 MIDYEAR CONVERTERS ROUNDTABLE

Boxmaker panel focuses on top-of-mind issues surrounding strategic growth and the importance of relationships

ALSO INSIDE Cleaning and Drying: A Better Way Special Section: Corrugated Week 2022 Member Profile: Forest Packaging

TABLE OF CONTENTS July/August 2022

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Volume 26, No. 4

COLUMNS

34 34

2022 MIDYEAR CONVERTERS ROUNDTABLE Xperience panel focuses on top-of-mind issues surrounding strategic growth and the importance of relationships

44

A BETTER WAY Automated cleaning and IR drying technology push productivity and sustainability boundaries

50

SPECIAL SECTION: CORRUGATED WEEK 2022 A peek at the floor plan, sponsors, and exhibitors

3

CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE

4

SCORING BOXES

8

LEGISLATIVE REPORT

12

ASK RALPH

14

ASK TOM

16

SELLING TODAY

20

ANDRAGOGY

22

LEADERSHIP

30

MEMBER PROFILE

52

THE ASSOCIATE ADVANTAGE

54

WHAT THE TECH?

56

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

64

THE FINAL SCORE

DEPARTMENTS

44

10

WELCOME, NEW & RETURNING MEMBERS

25

AICC INNOVATION

60

FOUNDATION FOR PACKAGING EDUCATION

62

INTERNATIONAL CORRUGATED PACKAGING FOUNDATION

50

BoxScore is published bimonthly by AICC, The Independent Packaging Association, PO Box 25708, Alexandria, VA 22313, USA. Rates for reprints and permissions of articles printed are available upon request. The statements and opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of AICC. The publisher reserves the right to accept or reject any editorial or advertising matter at its discretion. The publisher is not responsible for claims made by advertisers. POSTMASTER: Send change of address to BoxScore, AICC, PO Box 25708, Alexandria, VA 22313, USA. ©2022 AICC. All rights reserved.

Visit www.aiccboxscore.org for Member News and even more great columns.

Scan the QR code to check them out!

BOXSCORE www.aiccbox.org

1

OFFICERS Chairman: Gene Marino, Akers Packaging Service Group, Chicago, Illinois First Vice Chairwoman: Jana Harris, Harris Packaging/ American Carton, Haltom City, Texas Vice Chairs: Matt Davis, Packaging Express, Colorado Springs, Colorado Gary Brewer, Package Crafters, High Point, North Carolina Finn MacDonald, Independent II, Louisville, Kentucky Immediate Past Chairman: Jay Carman, StandFast Packaging Group, Carol Stream, Illinois Chairman, Past Chairmen’s Council: Joe Palmeri, Jamestown Container Cos., Macedonia, Ohio President: Michael D’Angelo, AICC Headquarters, Alexandria, Virginia Secretary/General Counsel: David Goch, Webster, Chamberlain & Bean, Washington, D.C. AICC Canada: Renee Annis DIRECTORS West: Jack Fiterman, Liberty Diversified Industries, Minneapolis, Minnesota Southwest: Michael Drummond, Packrite, High Point, North Carolina Southeast: Ben DeSollar, Sumter Packaging Corp., Sumter, South Carolina Midwest: Casey Shaw, Batavia Container Inc., Batavia, Illinois Great Lakes: Josh Sobel, Jamestown Container Cos., Macedonia, Ohio Northeast: Stuart Fenkel, McLean Packaging, Pennsauken, New Jersey AICC Canada: Terri-Lynn Levesque, Royal Containers Ltd., Brampton, Ontario, Canada AICC México: Juan Javier Gonzalez, Cartró, S.A.P.I. de C.V., Tepotzotlán, Mexico

DIRECTORS AT LARGE Kevin Ausburn, SMC Packaging Group, Springfield, Missouri Eric Elgin, Oklahoma Interpack, Muscogee, Oklahoma Guy Ockerlund, OxBox, Addison, Illinois Mike Schaefer, Tavens Packaging & Display, Bedford Heights, Ohio EMERGING LEADER DELEGATES Cassie Malone, Corrugated Supplies Co. LLC, Chicago, Illinois Lauren Frisch, Wasatch Container, North Salt Lake, Utah John McQueary, CST Systems, Atlanta, Georgia ASSOCIATE MEMBER DIRECTORS Chairman: Joseph Morelli, Huston Patterson Printers, Decatur, Illinois Vice Chairman: Greg Jones, SUN Automation Group, Glen Arm, Maryland Secretary: Tim Connell, A.G. Stacker Inc., Weyers Cave, Virginia Director: John Burgess, Pamarco, Roselle Park, New Jersey Immediate Past Chairman, Associate Members: Pat Szany, American Corrugated Machine Corp., Indian Trail, North Carolina ADVISORS TO THE CHAIRMAN Joseph M. Palmeri, Jamestown Container Cos., Macedonia, Ohio Al Hoodwin, Michigan City Paper Box, Michigan City, Indiana Joseph Morelli, Huston Patterson Printers, Decatur, Illinois PUBLICATION STAFF Publisher: Michael D’Angelo, mdangelo@aiccbox.org Editor: Virginia Humphrey, vhumphrey@aiccbox.org

OVERSEAS DIRECTOR Kim Nelson, Royal Containers Ltd., Brampton, Ontario, Canada

EDITORIAL/DESIGN SERVICES The YGS Group • www.theYGSgroup.com Vice President: Serena L. Spiezio Content & Copy Director: Craig Lauer Managing Editor: Julia Berley Senior Editor: Sam Hoffmeister Copy Editor: Steve Kennedy Art Director: Alex Straughan Account Manager: Max Lalwani SUBMIT EDITORIAL IDEAS, NEWS & LETTERS TO: BoxScore@theYGSgroup.com CONTRIBUTORS Maria Frustaci, Director of Administration and Director of Latin America Cindy Huber, Director of Conventions & Meetings Chelsea May, Education and Training Manager Laura Mihalick, Senior Meeting Manager Patrick Moore, Membership Services Manager Taryn Pyle, Director of Training, Education & Professional Development Alyce Ryan, Marketing Manager Steve Young, Ambassador-at-Large Richard M. Flaherty, President, ICPF ADVERTISING Taryn Pyle 703-535-1391 • tpyle@aiccbox.org Patrick Moore 703-535-1394 • pmoore@aiccbox.org AICC PO Box 25708 Alexandria, VA 22313 Phone 703-836-2422 Toll-free 877-836-2422 Fax 703-836-2795 www.aiccbox.org

ABOUT AICC PROVIDING BOXMAKERS WITH THE KNOWLEDGE NEEDED TO THRIVE IN THE PAPER-BASED PACKAGING INDUSTRY SINCE 1974 We are a growing membership association that serves independent corrugated, folding carton, and rigid box manufacturers and suppliers with education and information in print, in person, and online. AICC membership is for the full company, and employees at all locations have access to member benefits. AICC offers free online education to all members to help the individual maximize their potential and the member company maximize its profit.

WHEN YOU INVEST AND ENGAGE, AICC DELIVERS SUCCESS.

Chairman’s Message

It’s All in the Framework

O

ver the course of my tenure as chairman, my message focused on strategy and execution—particularly through the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) model, but any model will work. Having a framework to operate within is the important part. For EOS, the message is simple: When the six key components— vision, data, process, traction, issues, and people—are strong, the business is healthy.

A strategic framework works to establish a clear vision for the business. It then ensures that you have the right people on the bus, in the right seats. It creates an environment with established metrics to remove emotions from decision-making and to support good decisions with objective metrics. Once the team members know where they are going, who’s on the team, and how they are keeping score, they can focus on smoking out and solving the key issues in the business, creating repeatable, foolproof processes to reduce the stress of growth and drive a meeting cadence and focused priority system to set and achieve the goals needed to successfully realize the vision.

None of these frameworks is easy. Strategy and execution require open and honest transparency, a willingness as the leader to be vulnerable, and a desire to work for the greater good of the organization. My articles provided some insight into some of these areas, and I am hopeful you spent some time reflecting on them and possibly implementing some of the practices in your business.

When I wrote my introductory message for BoxScore, I challenged you with five reflective questions about your business. Hopefully you took the time to score the business. I ask you today to reevaluate based upon the work you completed this past year to measure any improvement, as well as shine a light on some potential weaknesses that continue to manifest in the business. For each statement below, rank your business on a scale of 1 to 5, in which 1 is weak and 5 is strong.

• We have a clear vision in writing that has been properly communicated and is shared by everyone.

• All the people in our organization are the right people.

• Our leadership team is open and honest and demonstrates a high level of trust.

• All teams clearly identify, discuss, and solve key issues for the greater good and long term.

• Everyone in the organization has a number.

As leaders, we have a responsibility to our team to provide the map, the message, the tools, and the help to drive successful execution. We must not take that for granted simply because we know where we are going—everyone else should know, too.

Communicate with authenticity and passion, push decision-making down, be open and honest, and positive results within any strategic framework will guarantee success.

Gene Marino Executive Vice President, Akers Packaging Service Group Chairman, AICC

BOXSCORE www.aiccbox.org

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Scoring Boxes

PMI – Measuring Manufacturing’s Pulse

BY DICK STORAT

U

nderstanding market conditions in the manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy is crucial for independent boxmakers large and small across the country. Almost all AICC member paper packaging shipments end up in the factories and plants of U.S. manufacturers to package goods they sell to downstream customers. Therefore, knowing the vital signs of manufacturing activity is central to understanding current and future prospects for paper packaging demand.

The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) is the earliest indicator of manufacturing activity, being issued by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) on the first business day of each month for the prior month’s activity. In use since 1920, the PMI is not only widely used but is considered by many economists to be a very reliable near-term barometer of change in economic activity.

Knowing more about this index and its components can help independent paper packaging converters gauge the manufacturing climate and anticipate

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BOXSCORE July/August 2022

The PMI is calculated as the equally changes in the business cycle earlier. weighted average of the first five activities The PMI is a composite index for listed above. The results of the survey the manufacturing sector of the U.S. are contained in the monthly Report on economy contained in the ISM’s monthly Report on Business. Each month, Business, which is released by the ISM at 10 a.m. Eastern time on the first business survey respondents from the entire day of each month. The report, as well manufacturing sector (diversified to as detailed information explaining the reflect each manufacturing industry’s contribution to GDP) are asked to assess survey and its results, can be found at www.ismworld.org. their organizations’ performance based The survey results are presented in on a comparison of the current month the form of a diffusion index. Diffusion to the previous month. They are simply indices have the properties of leading asked if the current level is “better/ indicators and are convenient summary higher,” “same,” or “worse/lower” than measures showing the prevailing direction the preceding month. The activities of change. The percent response to the included in the survey are: better, same, or worse question is difficult • New orders from customers to compare to prior periods. Therefore, the • Production level percentages are diffused for this purpose.

• Employment A diffusion index takes those indicating • Supplier deliveries “better” and half of those indicating “same” • Inventories and adds the percentages. This effectively • Customer inventories measures the bias toward a positive (above • Prices 50%) or negative index (below 50%). For • Backlog of orders example, if the response is 20% better, • New export orders 70% same, and 10% worse, the diffusion • Imports index would be 55% (20% + (0.50 x 70%)). After conversion to a diffusion index, the data for each activity are seasonally adjusted. For the PMI and the indices listed above, a reading above 50% indicates expansion, while a reading below 50% indicates declining activity. The single exception is the supplier deliveries index, where above 50% indicates longer delivery times for input materials and below 50% indicates shorter delivery times. Recently, this index has become important as a measure of change in global supply chain disruption. The chart at left shows the historical PMI trend since 2015.

While the PMI provides an early signal of the peaks and valleys in the

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Scoring Boxes

manufacturing sector before they appear in government economic data, individual components of the index are useful to predict future growth or contraction. For example, the price index is considered by many to be a good first indication of future inflation or deflation. The new orders and supplier deliveries indices are also leading indicators and offer some insight into the likelihood of future growth or contraction in manufacturing production and, consequently, demand for paper packaging in the next few months. The difference between the new orders diff usion index and the inventory index is a good proxy for future manufacturing production and packaging demand, because both rising new orders and declining inventory levels suggest the need to step up production in the future months. A chart of trends in this indicator is shown in the chart below.

For those who desire a deeper look into the conditions of manufacturing activity, the Report on Business provides additional data for analysis. Each month, commodities reported up or down in price or in short supply are listed. In addition to the aggregated survey percentage responses, each report lists the manufacturing

industries that are reporting growth or contraction in each of the manufacturing activities listed above.

In addition to data relating to the component indices, the monthly report contains representative respondents’ commentary regarding market

conditions. Average lead times for capital expenditures, production materials, and maintenance, repair, and operating supplies are provided along with percentage of respondents reporting.

With all this data provided monthly on the manufacturing sector by the ISM, it is very tempting to fall into the trap of believing that one month’s change provides by itself a forecast for the future.

Assessing and reacting to the trends, not monthly changes alone, provides the most meaningful interpretation of the available data and offers independent paper packaging converters the opportunity to draw independent conclusions regarding the future course of the manufacturing sector and the U.S. economy.  Dick Storat is president of Richard Storat & Associates.

He can be reached at 610-282-6033 or storatre@aol.com.

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BOXSCORE July/August 2022

Legislative Report

Paper Recycling Is a Success Story – Lawmakers Should Recognize Its Accomplishments

BY TERRY WEBBER

G

to sustainability. And we are further iven the central importance of bolstering America’s recycling success strong and efficient recycling by pledging $5 billion in manufacsystems to our collective sustainturing infrastructure investments by ability endeavors, recycling is rightfully at 2024. These funds—totaling nearly the forefront of our national conversation about climate change and waste reduction. $2.5 million per day in sustainability investments—will improve the paper As policymakers consider proposals to industry’s capacity to use recycled fibers promote a more circular economy and in our products by approximately 8 sustainable future, it is critical that they million tons, a roughly 25% increase recognize the paper industry’s sustained over 2020 levels. recycling infrastructure investments and America’s paper recycling industry is public education programs and their thriving and poised to grow even more significant contributions to the tremenefficient in the years ahead. dous achievements of our national paper However, lawmakers in some states recycling system. have proposed legislation known as Thanks to these initiatives, the “extended producer responsibility,” or overall recycling rate for paper has met EPR, which could imperil this progress. or exceeded 63% every year since 2009.

EPR policies essentially shift the costs This robust rate has allowed the U.S. to reach a significant milestone: Today, more of recycling responsibilities to the manufacturers and distributors of products than 50 million tons of paper is recovin an effort to boost recycling rates for ered annually for recycling—totaling difficult-to-recycle materials and their more than 1 billion tons over the past end markets. EPR policies must be caretwo decades. fully designed to consider the disparate Much of this success is due to the recycling systems and needs of different widespread availability of recycling materials. EPR could undermine paper programs. The 2021 American Forest & recycling by shifting investments away Paper Association Access to Recycling Study from industry infrastructure to cover found that 94% of American households new regulatory costs. have access to paper and paperboard Colorado is the most recent state recycling through either curbside or to pass an EPR scheme. The law does drop-off programs. These community recycling programs make it easy to recycle not account for the paper industry’s significant investments in manufacpaper products. Thanks in part to the turing capacity, utilizing recovered paper industry’s efforts, 14 million more paper, and its commitment to recycling. people have access to curbside recycling More paper by weight gets recycled programs today than in 2014. from municipal waste streams each These significant achievements highyear than aluminum, glass, steel, and light the paper industry’s commitment

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BOXSCORE July/August 2022

plastic combined. Nationally, the recycling rate of cardboard—the paper material most likely to be impacted by EPR policies—is more than 91%. Last year, the paper recycling rate climbed to an impressive 68%, on par with the highest rate previously achieved.

These already robust recycling rates are unlikely to be improved by new regulations.

EPR policies could also impose additional economic costs on consumers at a time of financial hardship and record inflation. Such policies amount to what is essentially a regressive tax that could hurt low-income households the most. In some states where EPR has already passed, studies estimate that monthly costs have increased for families of four between $32 and $59. Lawmakers should carefully craft legislation to recognize our industry’s leadership and not hinder continued investment in recycling. The message is loud and clear: Paper recycling is widely accessible and highly successful, and paper products already play a critical role in our collective sustainability efforts. It is important that we support a regulatory environment that recognizes and facilitates these accomplishments rather than hindering them.  Terry Webber is vice president of industry affairs at the American Forest & Paper Association.

New & Returning Members

Welcome, New and Returning Members JKSP SERVICES SIMON HOLMES Sales & Marketing Director Unit 17 Cameron Court Winwick Quay, Warrington WA2 8RE United Kingdom +44 1925-572-878 www.jkspservices.com WPR SERVICES CHRIS HARRIS Process Specialist & CEO 9059 Technology Lane Fishers, IN 46038 317-513-5269 www.wprservices.net OBERG & ASSOCIATES, LLC ROY OBERG Owner/Company Leader 16475 Dallas Pkwy., Suite 185 Addison, TX 75001 972-239-3315 www.obergassociates.com CORRUGATOR BELT SERVICE LLC GERALD SABALLUS Service Manager & Founder 6536 Joliet Rd. Countryside, IL 60525 708-267-0400 www.corrugator.com ITB PACKAGING LLC JEFF TISCHLEDER President 147 E. 6th St. Holland, MI 49423 616-392-3480 www.itbpackaging.com

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BOXSCORE July/August 2022

GMG COLOR KELLY GORRA Marketing Manager 120 Industrial Park Rd. Hingham, MA 02043 781-740-4077 www.gmgcolor.com CACTUS CONTAINER L.C. BRIAN R. WEBBER JR. Owner 4645 W. Van Buren St. Phoenix, AZ 85043 602-353-1380 www.cactuscontainer.net COWLITZ CONTAINER KURT C. VAN ORDEN President 2614 N. Hendrickson Dr. Kalama, WA 98625 360-577-8748 www.cowlitzcontainer.com COLORADO INDUSTRIAL PACKAGING CARL T. NICKEL General Manager 3700 Havana St., Suite 307 Denver, CO 80239 720-339-2706 www.cippack.com PREFLEX DIGITAL PREPRESS SERVICES JOE LYDIC Vice President of Operations 4620 95th St. SW, Suite D Lakewood, WA 98499 253-583-9100 www.preflex.net

MARK ANDY INC. JOHNNY BASS Digital Sales Manager 18081 Chesterfield Airport Rd. Chesterfield, MO 63005 636-532-4433 www.markandy.com

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Ask Ralph

ESG: Round Two

BY RALPH YOUNG

O

ne year ago, we published our fi rst article on the global issue of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives. Th is was motivated by a research paper from Deutsche Bank at the time. Now, the fi rm has again shared with its followers the highlights—26 pages—from its recent sustainability conference. Th is fi nancial investment institution is one of four that we follow, as they have a focus on our industry.

The drumbeat has also been picked up

by TAPPI and the Fibre Box Association, while financial organizations are more focused on publicly traded corporations that must report via their 10-Ks to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Shareholders want to know!

There is much about who you are as a company to be shown by investing in the three principles outlined here.

Also, be prepared to give an answer to stakeholders— that includes employees, both current and future.

It has been said that “deciding what is the right way and level to talk about sustainability is a key issue to be solved.”

Others have expanded upon this decadesold phrasing and now call it “frugal innovation.” This is defined in terms of creating more business and social value, while minimizing the use of resources such as energy, capital, and time.

Start early to at least have a champion in your organization who is gathering published articles and reviewing 10-Ks. Adapting to new ways of thinking and building a new culture and mindset take time. Ultimately, this will permeate through the firm, and everyone will be engaged. The expectations of some of your customers are changing. The customer experience will not be the same.

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BOXSCORE July/August 2022

Be careful about promoting electric vehicles (EVs), as the jury is still out about recycling those batteries after their 12- to 15-year life. Not for another 10 years will we have enough critical mass of old batteries to determine the true recyclability of them. We do know that currently it takes large amounts of water to recover lithium. We have not seen the life-cycle analysis for EVs as we have for corrugated, and EVs can use far more minerals than combustion vehicles. (Note: The Corrugated Packaging Alliance will release its latest Life Cycle Analysis for Corrugated later this year.)

While corporations have to have the best product and service to be competitive, they also need to build a company that participates with society where you work and live. It has an impact on the happiness of your stakeholders and shareholders.

You do not need to be looking at the global dialogue about cap and trade and

carbon credits; your focus should be on your employees, wise use of resources and raw materials, efficiencies, where customers are leaning, and misinformation and downright lies.

If you need to look at how far this has come and need a “corporate” template of how to proceed, look to Nike and its 10-K. Its goal is 100% renewable energy by 2025. Other firms such as MasterCard have different motives of securing analytics on people in Third World countries who have always used cash systems. So be very careful who you model your programs after.

That’s why we have each other in AICC!  Ralph Young is the principal of Alternative Paper Solutions and is AICC’s technical advisor.

Contact Ralph directly about technical issues that impact our industry at askralph@aiccbox.org.

Ask Tom

Material Testing and Why You Need It Now

BY TOM WEBER

R

alph Young, my famous AICC counterpart serving the corrugated membership, and I recently co-hosted a webinar, aptly named Material Testing and Why You Need It Now! This subject has resonated with both of us for many years now, as more and more of our strategic raw materials are being sourced offshore, with little to no knowledge of exactly what waste papers, chemicals, and compounds are being used to manufacture them.

This is precisely why we felt it was imperative to remind all AICC members that there are certain tests that should be performed in-house to ensure that all customers are receiving a product that will meet their manufacturing production-line criteria. For the purpose of this article, I will refrain from any graphic testing devices and comment only on the key attributes regarding functional performance-testing equipment criteria. The purpose is to advise members of what testing I consider to be the most critical today. My top 10 tests are noted below in no particular order.

1. Sutherland Rub Test • This test specifically identifies the ability of the substrate, inks, and coatings to withstand transit and handling.

• The test can also be utilized to determine your best approach to meet your customer’s filling-line demands as well as storage and refrigerated/ frozen case concerns.

2. Score Bend Test • This testing can afford you, the carton manufacturer, the peace of mind of knowing that you have properly scored the material to provide for the best possible cartoning outcome.

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BOXSCORE July/August 2022

•

The data provided can allow for direct comparisons, as you need to compare and contrast various materials as substitutions become inevitable with continued supply chain woes.

3. Opening Force Test • The force required to open a side-seam glued folding carton will be somewhat directly proportional to the score bend test above, as well as the degree of folded score pre-break that is set up on your gluing lines.

• The style of the carton blanks, along with your gluing parallel score pressure wheels, can be tremendous aids and can allow you to provide your customers with easy-opening cartons for extended periods of time.

4. Slip Angle/Coefficient of Friction Test • This inclined plane device will afford you the opportunity to gauge how effectively you have applied the coating to the carton surface—and how well you have cured it.

• This test is critical to ensuring good carton filling-line performance and should be set up using data established from well-running carton blanks.

5. Dyne Test • This test is usually prescribed for more nonporous materials, such as plastics and other nonwoven materials. I have found it to be particularly useful to test incoming lots of papers and paperboards to determine their specific “holdout” characteristics.

• The data obtained can be crossreferenced with the slip angle, glue seam tensile pull, and gloss testing to tell a full story about that lot of material.

6. Glue Seam Test • This test is usually performed in a tensile pull device and gauges the force required to delaminate either the glue strip from the paperboard or the paperboard itself—weakest bond loses.

• Folding cartons that are packaged heavily or tend to light caliper and “football” around the middle can succumb to a weakened glue bond or too thin an adhesive glue line. This device also can easily compare and contrast various adhesives (hot melt, cold dextrin, cold resin, etc.).

7. Cady Gauge Caliper Test • The use of a calibrated micrometer is essential to good carton-making.

It should have a minimum of a 1-foot-diameter piston and preferably be motorized to eliminate any heavyhanded device operation.

• A deep-throated Cady gauge will also allow the checking of folded score

Ask Tom

parallel to ensure that your carton will stack and pack well, as well as function on the customer’s filling lines. The three most critical measures are near score, far score, and the glue seam. The glue seam sets the bar, and then the far score should match that number, with the near score (closest to the glue seam) set at or below by 0.001–0.002 to ensure proper stack height is maintained in the customer’s cartoner hopper/feeder magazine.

8. Perforation Puncture Test • This test is often executed using a motorized Chatillon force gauge mounted to a fi xture with an appropriate fi xture on the end, sized to replicate the perforated tab desired for testing. It will create a data point when testing a properly functioning tear tab to ensure reliability both

from run to run and during a run of folding cartons.

• The need to maintain a properly functioning tear tab across multiple die positions on a folding carton tool set dictates the use of such a device to quantify results for GMP. 9. Light Box Test • A light box, used to see exactly how well perforations and cut scores are being manufactured, is a useful tool that I have at the press side on the die cutter or in-line web press.

• This gives the operator a quick visual reference to compare die positions once again and gauge the cutting-rule effectiveness. A dull perforation rule is very easily noticed with light penetration before it may be felt in the typical carton checks of each die position.

10. Gloss Meter • As mentioned above, this is a print quality device for certain. It is also a measure of the material itself as far as ink and coating holdout is concerned.

With the multitude of raw materials we are using these days, I encourage all to utilize the gloss meter instrument to properly document gloss measurements during and between runs.

• Over a period of time and across multiple materials, you may begin to see patterns you both do and do not care for. Either way, you will be informed and armed to do battle.  Tom Weber is president of WeberSource LLC and is AICC’s folding carton and rigid box technical advisor.

Contact Tom directly at asktom@aiccbox.org.

BOXSCORE www.aiccbox.org

15

Selling Today

Death of the Traditional Sales Process

BY TODD M. ZIELINSKI AND LISA BENSON

T

here have been significant advances in manufacturing productivity in the past century. Historically, production operated under a make-to-stock environment, and it was the salesperson’s job to sell the product. Traditional sales principles worked well under that model and still may for some industries with transactional sales environments. For complex sales, however, the traditional sales process is changing (some might say slowly dying).

The traditional sales model operates with the following principles: • Large sales require personal relationships.

• Salespeople are encouraged to view their territory as their own business and operate autonomously.

• Sales is primarily an outside activity.

• More salespeople are needed to increase sales.

Complex selling environments require a better method to run efficiently and fill the sales pipeline with a scalable number of solid, qualified leads. Today, competition is fierce in the custom packaging industry. Manufacturing equipment advancements, improved materials, and customer demands have led many packaging manufacturers to turn to a custom-built model. Under this model, the traditional sales principles are not always the most effective or productive, although many manufacturers are still operating under these misconceptions.

Misconception – Large Sales Require Personal Relationships Like the chicken and the egg, we must ask which came first—the relationship or the sale? In all honesty, the relationship likely came after the first sale.

16

BOXSCORE July/August 2022

The relationship might be a factor in customer retention (repeat transactions); however, on-time delivery, quality, pricing, and return on investment are generally the primary influences. Usually, when qualified prospects show interest, it’s because they have an issue in one or more of these areas causing them pain (related to time, resources, dollars), not because they are looking for a relationship. “Relationship selling” implies that a company has no other differentiators and must rely on the relationship. The pandemic lockdowns forced some companies to look at the value they provide their customers and, as a result, they have had to shift their selling tactics to successfully close large sales opportunities without face-to-face interactions.

Misconception – Salespeople Should Operate Autonomously In a traditional model, salespeople sell products from inventory and require little interaction with production. In a custom-built model, the salesperson can sell only what the design teams and production have the capacity for, so all must work closely together.

Misconception – Sales Is Primarily a Field Activity In the traditional sales model, outside, or “field,” salespeople were the norm. Before computers and cellphones, it made sense to have your entire team doing outside sales. While there is still a need for face-to-face activities (and some industries may depend on them more heavily), the majority of work for packaging manufacturers isn’t done in front of the customer.

Today’s selling model requires that selling is no longer primarily a field activity. It is mainly an inside activity with a

few distinct functions performed outside.

Prospect vetting, quoting, proposals, designing, scheduling, and administrative tasks don’t require a field visit. The same is true for repeat transactional sales.

Misconception – More Salespeople Are Needed to Increase Sales When looking for sales growth, many manufacturers mistakenly believe that hiring more salespeople will lead to more sales. This isn’t usually the case. In fact, many who change to this new sales model find they need fewer salespeople (full-time reps) to experience increased sales growth.

If your production system is running inefficiently, adding more equipment and hoping that fixes the problem doesn’t always make the most sense. Sales should be treated just like any production operation that requires the assessment and execution of required, ongoing process-improvement tactics.

Division of Labor Today, many customers have limited time and prefer a more efficient online or virtual interaction. Customers will spend most of the sales cycle researching on their own before reaching out. Many will read content on websites and contact packagers through website forms or electronic communications. Some customers are less interested in meeting a salesperson until the end of the process, if at all. Often, by the time they reach out, a customer already has a direction in mind and, in some cases, a decision has already been made.

This is why salespeople today typically spend the majority of their time doing activities that do not involve the active sales process. The average salesperson has only a few customer meetings a week and is heavily involved in customer service and

Selling Today

administrative tasks. Current compensation practices often inadvertently encourage them to service some accounts heavily and ignore others. Many salespeople either can’t or don’t prospect enough to generate the required sales numbers management would like. Because of this current sales reality, sales can be very fragmented, negatively impacting their sales productivity and results. Because of the autonomy, there is often friction between sales and other departments. In addition, some salespeople are in roles that don’t suit their personality traits (preferences/skill sets)—traits that are required to prospect effectively.

All of these issues can lead to the sales department being inefficient and unproductive. By employing a division-of-labor process, your sales team can become more efficient and can close more meaningful sales.

Division of labor was introduced by Adam Smith in the late 18th century as a method for dividing production into different tasks performed by different people.

The method is used to increase productivity and output. This same process can actually be used for complex, custom (technical) sales by dividing the sales tasks among people to allow more focus in each area.

Division of labor can increase opportunity flow and active sales opportunities.

The division-of-labor model may look a bit different in various companies, but here is one example of how it might work for a packaging company.

Customer service is responsible for customer support, such as dealing with complaints. It also handles low-dollar transactions from both current customers and new accounts. Account managers are responsible for customer retention and growth for medium to large customers.

The marketing coordinator handles content creation, developing sales materials, emails, webinars, blogs, and social media and web content, and provides inbound (search engine optimization/pay-per-click) leads to inside sales for vetting.

BOXSCORE www.aiccbox.org

17

Image courtesy of Athena SWC.

Selling Today

Inside sales, which takes direction from the business development coordinator, is responsible for prospecting and vetting both inbound and outbound opportunities.

The business development coordinator is responsible for managing the overall process with the goal of keeping the outside salesperson’s queue (calendar) filled with qualified sales opportunities on a daily or weekly basis. This includes other administrative tasks, such as following up with RFQ and quotes if any information is missing or reengaging when a prospect goes dark after receiving a quote and there was no resolution. The outside salesperson consumes the sales opportunities and closes the sale. That person might need to pull in technical support and estimating and quoting as part of the process.

Under this model, you will likely need several customer service reps and inside sales reps but need fewer outside sales reps. One of the biggest benefits is a reduction in labor costs, since outside sales reps are paid much more.

Benefits of Division of Labor The primary benefits of implementing a division of labor are increased productivity within your sales department, a

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BOXSCORE July/August 2022

suitable flow of new qualified opportunities into the active sales cycle, and the opportunity to lower your overall cost of sales. Your outside salespeople are no longer fragmented but instead focused on what they do best. Many compensation structures provide commissions on repeat customer sales, making salespeople more apt to spend time with current customers instead of creating new business. Moving all customer interactions to the customer service and account management team removes that barrier. Of course, compensation should be adjusted to accommodate for the change.

Another benefit is that you can ensure that you have the right person in the right place. With the traditional sales model, salespeople are expected to wear several hats that require distinctive skill sets. Division of labor allows you to maximize your employees’ strengths. Some people are better at nurturing customers, while others enjoy the thrill of the hunt.

This model is also scalable by turning up or down the flow of opportunities based on sales need and production capacity. Using your historical conversion rates for each step in your sales cycle, the typical sale size, the average length of the sales cycle,

and desired growth, you can calculate how many prospects your sales development reps and business development coordinator need to interact with each week to sustain your outside salesperson opportunity queue.

Moving to a different way of selling won’t be easy and will take dedicated management support to ensure that each component integrates well and works in harmony. The idea is to maintain sales at a consistent level and avoid spikes and dips. If your current sales model isn’t working, division of labor may help you create a consistent flow of the right types of opportunities.  Todd M. Zielinski is managing director and CEO at Athena SWC LLC. He can be reached at 716-250-5547 or tzielinski@athenaswc.com.

Lisa Benson is senior marketing content consultant at Athena SWC LLC. She can be reached at lbenson@athenaswc.com.

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Andragogy

The Tribal Knowledge Dilemma

BY JULIE RICE SUGGS, PH.D., AND ALLI KEIGLEY

W

hether you have worked in a particular industry for five years or 25 years, you have likely heard co-workers refer to the “tribal knowledge” within the company.

But do you know what the phrase means, or have you been too afraid to ask, unsure if it involves some sort of ceremony you aren’t ready to commit to?

All joking aside, how is tribal knowledge relevant to the packaging and manufacturing industries we are entrenched in today?

For our context, tribal knowledge refers to information not widely known by other employees within a company.

This extremely valuable information is often undocumented in nature, residing only in the minds of select individuals.

While many people associate tribal knowledge with myths and legends that are passed down from generation to generation—possibly around a campfire and ever-changing over the years—the concept sidesteps these nostalgic qualities in the packaging and manufacturing world. Tribal knowledge is knowledge that is likely essential to the production of a product or performance of a service, but it might also be counterintuitive to the process.

Think for a moment about your colleagues and the management within your company or organization—chances are good that there are different age demographics represented. Today, we are seeing a paradigm shift due to the baby boomer generation reaching retirement age, and when they retire, critical information—what we are calling tribal knowledge—may disappear with them.

If something is not done to capture this knowledge, the company will be left with gaps in information.

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On the flip side, tribal knowledge can negatively affect the training of new hires.

There is certainly much useful tribal knowledge floating around in companies; however, the spread of incorrect information can be attributed to tribal knowledge as well. For example, an employee who works in a silo and is told to train a new hire will share faulty tribal knowledge, if that’s how they operate. And improper training for software or equipment on the plant floor poses a threat to the production process, the service being provided, and ultimately the safety of the employees.

Up to this point, we have talked about the way tribal knowledge works in a company and some of the issues it can cause, but let’s look at it from a different angle.

How can you effectively and efficiently capture and share the valuable tribal knowledge within your organization?

The first step is basic. We are now well into the 21st century; computers are more commonplace than notebooks in most parts of the world. That means there should be no technological obstacles to digitizing all the tribal knowledge within your organization. Will it take time? Yes, but it is a worthwhile time investment.

Once this information is digitized through a standard, streamlined process, it should be shared across the organization to engage employees, promote collaboration, and build further upon this tribal knowledge.

Now, you might be wondering just how to share this information. Email? A Zoom meeting? Everyone (for all The Office fans) in the conference room? Of course, any of these methods could work, but we have another option. The ways in which we access and contribute information are constantly evolving—mobile technology has evolved to allow the workforce to remain connected in real time. Yet many companies still rely on dry, even tedious documentation formats to share this crucial tribal knowledge, making it difficult for employees to digest and retain the information they need.

Instead of this old-school approach, we offer you a new methodology to try out—microlearning. Microlearning is simply a way of instructing in which difficult topics are broken up and arranged into bite-sized lessons to engage with on any device. Infographics, quick readings, videos, animations, discussions,

Andragogy

or interactive slides can be used as the vehicle to deliver information. This unique method empowers employees to learn and complete training at their own pace. We believe these short, focused sessions help avoid mental burnout and cater to adult learning styles.

If you are not sure how to accomplish this within your company, or if you are short on resources and time (aren’t we all!), we are here to help. For example, AICC’s Education Investor program gives member companies the opportunity to be thought leaders in the industry, and it allows AICC to continue as the innovative industry front-runner in providing premier educational programming, products, and services to its members. While this might feel like a square-peg-roundhole scenario for your company, especially those who do not want to give up their “secret sauce” or share company-specific

tribal knowledge, please know that AICC and The Packaging School also offer custom course development to fit your specific needs.

Not looking to reinvent the wheel?

We have you covered there, too. AICC’s partnership with The Packaging School allows for member companies and all respective employees to get the value-add of online training programs free. With more than 80 online courses in both English and Spanish, all related to the packaging industry and the manufacturing environment, you are sure to find something that suits your current needs.

Grab your computer, and we will get you squared away.

Tribal knowledge is common to most organizations, created through either intentional or unintentional means.

For this reason, companies need to be diligent about capturing this information,

correcting any misinformation, and making the vital information readily available to all employees. We are just one email away to help you get started. Email julie@ packagingschool.com or tpyle@aiccbox.org for more information on how to make that happen in your company today.  Julie Rice Suggs, Ph.D., is academic director at The Packaging School.

She can be reached at 330-774-8542 or julie@ packagingschool.com.

Alli Keigley is production coordinator at The Packaging School. She can be reached at alli@ packagingschool.com.

BOXSCORE www.aiccbox.org

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Leadership

More Boxes, Fewer People

BY SCOTT ELLIS, ED.D.

T

he funny thing about change fatigue is that it is getting pretty difficult to surprise manufacturers. World events have lined up crisis after crisis, and we continue to figure out how to keep making boxes. At this point, if the temp agency started sending zombies, we would give them a try.

CEOs are concerned that the experienced people who keep production running will grow weary of extended shifts and weekend work. Even with increased wages and ample overtime pay, the workforce has never been more mobile. Many have experimented with new schedules (e.g., four 10- or 12-hour shifts per week). They have consolidated three shifts into two, with a day shift and a graveyard shift. This allows them to rotate maintenance personnel to do PMs during the traditional second shift so most employees can spend evenings with family.

It is encouraging to see the creativity and flexibility that has come out of the struggle, but even with robots and zombies, we are not yet able to make boxes without people being involved. It is time to break one more mindset and begin running through breaks and lunches at key machine centers.

We need to make more boxes with fewer people. Look at it as a math problem. For comparison’s sake, let’s agree that we have a lineup that includes multiple jobs of 7,000 pieces, and our average machine speed is 5,000 kicks per hour. Please hold the “yeah, buts” and go with me on this.

We average 20-minute setups. In a standard eight-hour shift, an employee takes two 15-minute breaks and a 30-minute lunch. Now, in most plants, these periods stretch by a couple of minutes each, but we will leave that out of the equation for now. It is also typical that we stop for the

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shift handoff, ostensibly because software has not been able to assign product to the shift that made it. So, in a 480-minute shift, we will squander one hour to breaks and lunches, 80 minutes to setups, and 15 minutes to cool-down at the end of the shift.

Considering that we have no mechanical downtime and never wait for materials, we have 325 minutes to make boxes. Given the constraints imposed above, we will set up four jobs and produce 27,084 boxes.

The backlog of jobs tempts us to add another shift, and that may be necessary. In labor cost alone, adding another shift will incur supervision, indirect labor, and an additional crew. Before taking that step, consider adding an additional operator to the first-shift crew. The job of this person is to cover for all other crew members as they stagger their breaks and lunches. Everyone gets their breaks, and the machine stops only to change over jobs. We are not running faster yet, we are not doing quicker changeovers, and we just don’t stop making boxes until the job is complete. By this method, we will be down a total of 100 minutes, because we complete an additional setup and hand off the machine without a pause. We will produce for 380 minutes and complete 31,667 boxes—more boxes with fewer people involved, with less overtime incurred, less employee burnout and turnover, and more accountability for timeliness in returning from breaks.

Productivity is addictive and contagious, so there is a cost. Support labor will have to adapt to keep continuous-run machines stocked. In some states, the crew will need to agree to waive the “uninterrupted

lunch” and sign a form similar to those required on a corrugator. In one instance where this was implemented, we needed to add a break room near the machine.

Once the schedule is stable, we will work to reduce our setup time, and we will spend whatever it takes to supply the crew with materials and tooling that will win back productive and profitable minutes.

We will examine our design and routing practices to allow the crew to run at even greater speeds. As uptime, speed, and quality increase, we will wonder why it took us so long to break that old mindset.

Then we can fire all the zombies.  Scott Ellis, Ed.D., delivers training, coaching, and resources that develop the ability to eliminate obstacles and sustain more eff ective and profitable results. He recently published Dammit: Learning Judgment Through Experience. His books and process improvement resources are available at workingwell.bz. AICC members enjoy a 20% discount with code AICC21.

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ICC has launched two new ways to learn online: AICC Now and Packaging University.

AICC has brought many of its videos and information to AICC Now, a new information hub allowing members to find it all in one place. AICC Now is a streaming platform, with recordings of AICC webinars, one-point lessons, PSAs, and more.

AICC has also revamped its free online education and launched Packaging University. More than 90 free online courses are still available to members at no charge, and now it is easier than ever to access it. Packaging University has an updated course list and a new look to help employees of member companies grow.

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BOXSCORE www.aiccbox.org

25

AICC Innovation

Thought Leadership

Can Packaging Companies Really Embrace Market Dynamics?

BY BART VERBRUGGEN

W

hile producers of paperboard packaging have always had their share of challenges, current market dynamics make it even harder to run their businesses. Demand is becoming more volatile, less predictable, more diverse, and more customer-specific than ever before. E-commerce and home delivery are changing the landscape, and the COVID-19 pandemic has made it all even more difficult to predict.

The Continuous Struggle Becomes More Challenging I see many packaging companies struggle with orders coming in at the last minute. They find it difficult to make realistic service promises and then live up to those promises throughout the planning and production process. The need to produce ever-smaller batches of highly customized boxes while maintaining reasonable levels of stock and work in process makes it hard to schedule and optimize their corrugator and converting lines.

The continuing pressure for shorter lead times results in a growing number of items being managed in a maketo-stock arrangement, which brings the additional challenge of combining make-to-stock with make-to-order, competing for time on the same machines.

And don’t forget that companies need to further reduce waste and increase efficiencies in this era of extremely fast fulfillment.

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Why It’s Good to Invest in Forecasting But there is also good news. Packaging companies can benefit a lot if they upgrade some of their planning practices and solutions. A prime example lies in forecasting demand. Many companies currently refrain from doing anything in this area, simply because they believe it’s too difficult and not very reliable.

They should think again. Indeed, state-of-the-art forecasting solutions are able to distinguish exceptional historical data from normal data and can even make a good guess at what next month’s new normal will be like. Forecasting techniques can also include demand sensing, which involves monitoring open orders, downstream production data, and external indicators of changing demand to keep the forecast reliable.

Using Science to Make Sense of Data There’s room for improvement on the supply side, too. For example, data science solutions can thoroughly analyze the product portfolio, shop floor production data, and sales data, in combination with dozens of external indicators. Such analysis can be used to improve the segmentation and prioritization of products and customers or to decide which products could be better produced in a make-to-stock arrangement.

Getting the Tactical Planning Off the Ground The kind of analysis offered by forecasting and data science also allows companies to get their long- and medium-term planning off the ground. Indeed, experience in other industries indicates that there are a lot of opportunities for paperboard packaging companies to further improve their sales and operations planning, or S&OP. Tactical planning backed by artificial intelligence can help these companies maximize synergies across the supply chain. Capacities can be planned to consider seasonal effects brought to the surface by data analysis. Predicted shifts in demand can trigger reallocation of production volumes to other sites or spur a decision to open a night shift in one location, avoiding costly last-minute decisions on outsourcing or weekend overtime.

Embracing the Dynamics Yes, current market dynamics are giving packaging companies a hard time. But companies could greatly benefit from putting more science into their planning practices—even up to the point where they really embrace the dynamics in order to become more reliable and competitive.  Bart Verbruggen is senior business development manager at OMP Belgium.

Recycling

New Program Encourages Consumers to Be Part of the Solution

BY THE PAPER AND PACKAGING BOARD

Images courtesy of the Paper and Packaging Board.

W

ith e-commerce deliveries on the rise, residential recycling is more important than ever.

That’s why manufacturers and brands across the paper and packaging industry are coming together with a box-focused residential recycling program: Box to Nature. This program is led by the Paper and Packaging Board (P+PB), a national consumer marketing program overseen by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to build preference for the paper and paper-packaging industry.

“We can change consumer recycling behavior with the right program,” says Mary Anne Hansan, president of P+PB, “and we think now is the right time.”

With $906.1 billion spent on e-commerce

by Americans in 2021, more boxes than ever are arriving on residential doorsteps, and consumers are beginning to experience increased guilt. However, research shows that they feel better when they can do their part. While a majority of consumers say they recycle, 2 in 3 consumers still admit they don’t always do so.* As a result, only an estimated 40% of consumer recyclable material is recovered through residential recycling, according to The Recycling Partnership.

The Box to Nature graphic educates and prompts consumer action at the point of packaging in three easy steps—empty, flatten, and recycle. While the mark can be printed on boxes of all sizes, to have the greatest impact, the consumer-tested mark should be placed in a prominent

location. Sixty-three percent of consumers reported they would recycle more if paper-based packaging had recycling instructions printed on it.

By scanning the QR code that sits next to the mark, consumers are met with an engaging quiz and educational microsite that connects them to the paper industry’s national consumer marketing campaign.

Seventy-five percent of consumers tested agree that they would be more likely to recycle after seeing the message, demonstrating that the Box to Nature mark can effect real behavior change.

Box to Nature gives consumers and businesses alike a chance to be a part of the environmental solution. Together, we have the opportunity to give the fibers in

our boxes up to seven lives. Box to Nature is a free program, open to P+PB member companies and all boxmakers large and small—even digital ordering systems—that want to help the whole industry get more boxes back and give consumers peace of mind that they are doing the right thing.

If you would like to participate in the program, contact P+PB at box2nature@ paperandpackaging.org, or learn more at paperandpackaging.org. 

“We are excited to participate in the Box to Nature program, reminding consumers at ‘point of package’ to empty, flatten, and recycle! This is an important industry initiative that will help improve residential recycling rates!”

—Bryan Hollenbach, executive vice president, Green Bay Packaging

*Kelton. Paper and Packaging Board Recycling Results Summary, 2020 BOXSCORE www.aiccbox.org

27

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Member Profile

Forest Packaging: Quality, American-Made

BY STEVE YOUNG

COMPANY: Forest Packaging ESTABLISHED: 1966

Photos courtesy of Forest Packaging.

JOINED AICC: 1991 PHONE: 847-981-7000 WEBSITE: www.forestpkg.com LOCATIONS: Elk Grove Village, Illinois Forest Packaging's leadership team, from left: Dean DeGroot, sales manager; Greg Kula, president; and John Kula, vice president. Not pictured: Jeff Kula, senior account executive.

T

here’s something all-American that rings true about every independent converter’s story: an entrepreneur with a dream; a 15,000-square-foot space; a couple of pieces of used equipment; a handful of loyal customers; and a few hardworking employees. So it was for John Kissock, who in 1966 founded Forest Packaging in the Chicago suburb of Forest Park, Illinois.

One of Kissock’s hardworking employees in the company’s early years was Greg Kula, who joined Forest as a sales representative in 1980. “We were really, really tiny. We had a 15,000-squarefoot building, a crackerjack Langston letterpress from 1918, a Thompson die cutter, and a slitter,” Kula recalls.

As things turned out, Kula in 1991 bought the company from its founder, recognizing the same opportunities as Kissock—small quantities, fast service, and longstanding relationships can build a very successful business. “John Kissock had no heirs and no one interested in the business,” Kula says. “It worked out good

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BOXSCORE July/August 2022

for him; he got everything he wanted.

And it worked out good for me.”

Today, 56 years after its founding, Forest Packaging, now in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, is a thriving sheet plant serving the Chicago area from 65,000 square feet of production and warehouse space. The company’s 50 employees work in two shifts to produce 130 million square feet of corrugated containers and displays annually. Now on its second generation of ownership, Forest Packaging is planning its next phase of expansion and growth.

First Years Those early years were full of challenges.

The company had a stable of loyal customers but did not have the capability to meet all their growing demands. “We needed to speed up our processes,” Kula says. “We had a lot of antiquated equipment; we had to do a lot of farm-out work.” Equipment was not the only obstacle, however. Kula remembers the frustration he experienced with the physical plant of the company, which had relocated to Addison, Illinois.

OWNERS: Greg Kula “We were so locked in the smaller building,” he says. “We just needed to get a larger facility and more capability, even in the standard things—die cutting and making simple RSCs. We were very inefficient.”

Forest Packaging’s second generation— Vice President John Kula and Senior Account Executive Jeff Kula—have been the catalyst for the company’s growth in the past 20 years. Greg gives John the lion’s share of the credit for the progression of the company’s machine additions and equipment capabilities. “John’s educated himself,” says Greg. “Since he was 12 years old, he’s been sitting on forklifts, so he has a knack for production.”

The company’s current equipment roster has evolved over a 25-year period, with the most recent acquisitions in the past decade. Forest Packaging has as its workhorse machines a BW Papersystems 66" x 118" three-color rotary die cutter; a Tecasa 50" x 111" two-color flexo folder gluer; and a Maramatsu 40" x 55" flatbed die cutter. Complementing these are an Automatän 7780 laminator, a Post 1080

Member Profile

specialty folder gluer, and a BCS (now Kolbus) Boxmaker.

According to John Kula, the evolution of the company’s current equipment mix begins in 2010, with the acquisition of the Post specialty folder gluer. Says John: “You go back to 2010, we didn’t have a specialty gluer; we couldn’t buy a new one, so we went out and found an 10-year old Post 1080. It was in a WestRock plant in New Jersey. They had three of them that they were running, and then they lost the business. Two of them were just sitting there.”

The machine was not, however, in working condition. Says Greg: “I remember going out to see this thing. It was all in pieces; there must have been an inch and a half of dust on this thing, and I thought, ‘Oh, no!’ But it was a good price!”

The machine required about $100,000 to rebuild. “We wanted to make sure we didn’t bring something in here with bandaids on it,” says John. “We rebuilt it from front to back—drives, shafts, and belts.”

As John explains, the capabilities of the newly acquired Post exposed certain weaknesses in the company’s upstream processes. “We weren’t designing things properly,” John says. “We’d do things and have problems and end up farming business out. So, we ended up getting the Post, and that systematically changed the way we design things.”

Adds Greg: “It was [the] best thing for our designers. We always designed around difficult gluing applications, and it hurt our business. We went from zero to really busy in a relatively short time.”

Just the Beginning The Post addition had further ramifications, as John explains. “Then we upgraded our design department because now we could start doing things. We could add more work to our die cutter. So, we ended up with a used piece of equipment that opened up a lot of opportunities for us.”

From that point, the equipment acquisition dominoes began to fall, with

John seeing a need for a new label laminator with production speeds fast enough to accommodate growth and take advantage of opportunities in those customers with higher-end packaging requirements. “We found an Automatän sitting down in Texas,” John says. “But the bones were good. We bought the machine, brought it in here, and rebuilt it on the floor.” Prior to this purchase the company could label, but not quickly enough to satisfy customers.

The need for new equipment continued to manifest itself. Although the company acquired a new Tecasa flexo folder gluer in 1997 for its longer runs—and that machine had long proved its value—its two aging flatbed die cutters could not keep up with demand. Working with Hitek Equipment, Forest Packaging acquired a new Maramatsu flatbed die cutter in 2017 to increase speed and enhance employee safety, which was a top priority. “The Maramatsu—the ease.

You could almost bring a person in off the street and run it,” John says. “It’s a neat piece that started helping us.”

That same year it also acquired a new Kongsberg CAD table and added a BCS (now Kolbus) Boxmaker to the production floor. According to John, the Kongsberg table enabled the company to provide better-quality samples to customers: “It’s another way we enhance our service overall,” he says.

The BCS Boxmaker, for its part, allows Forest to take smaller runs formerly run on their high-speed rotary die cutter and move them to the Boxmaker. “This guaranteed the small jobs that built Forest Packaging would still be managed while opening up capacity on the rotary die cutter for our larger jobs,” John says.

And, in what John calls “Forest’s crowning moment,” in 2018, the company added a BW PaperSystems 66" x 125" three-color rotary die cutter and Geo. M. Martin stacker. About the die cutter, John says, “That 66" x 125", I don’t think we were three months in, and we said, ‘How

did we ever get along without it?’ It was that instant. You can just see the amount of stuff going through it.”

To keep up with the throughput on the BW PaperSystems die cutter—and to address the growing shortage of labor—Forest Packaging installed an Alliance Machine Systems pre-feeder at the front end of the machine in 2021. “A labor shortage made finding employees increasingly difficult,” John says. “The pre-feeder allowed us to continue to serve our customers without worry.”

Being very pleased with the performance of the Alliance pre-feeder on their rotary die cutter, the company recently added a second unit at the front end of its Tecasa flexo folder gluer. “The pre-feeders have decreased employee fatigue, increased employee safety, and increased our efficiencies,” reports John.

And in November of this year, building on the push to increase throughput, Forest Packaging will add a Geo. M. Martin bundle breaker at the back of the BW Papersystems rotary die cutter. “We’ll start designing differently now to run multiple outs,” says John. “There are jobs we’ve lost because they wanted to have it bundled, and you can’t bundle 100,000 by hand!”

In sourcing equipment, the Forest Packaging leadership team found it important to favor machines built and serviced in America, and in their view, the supply chain issues of the past two years have proved this to be a sound philosophy.

“Through all our equipment additions over the years, we have found it to be increasingly important, especially in today’s crazy world, that the machines are made and/or serviced within the United States,” John says. “Our mentality is to buy American to support jobs here.”

More Capabilities, More Market Forest Packaging’s equipment investments have tracked the growth of its diverse customer base. The large Chicago corrugated market area is, as Greg Kula says, a “good” market. “You’re not just tied into

BOXSCORE www.aiccbox.org

31

Member Profile

one industry, like automotive. There are times when some industries are down, but others are doing better, so we drop here and pick up there. That’s the safety you get in this area.”

Defining Forest Packaging’s customer base, Dean DeGroot, sales manager, says, “It’s a lot of brown boxes, RSCs, die cuts. And that’s been spread among many industries—food, automotive, plastics, metal stampers, and printers. We’re not concentrated in any one industry.”

DeGroot says the company’s current mix is a 60-40 split of industrial packaging and graphics and display work.

The immediate payout from its recent, strategic investments is a greater opportunity for the company in new or underserved markets. Referring to the BW Papersystems three-color RDC, DeGroot says, “It’s made a huge difference in speed and graphics. I’m amazed at what we can do graphically now. We’ve picked up so much business just because of that. We used to have to turn away business—‘we can’t hold that print; we can’t do that.’ Now we can do just about anything.”

Jeff Kula also weighs in on the new market opportunities the company now enjoys, especially in light of the waning of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We really have had a lot of good opportunities presented to us,” he says. “We feel we’re in a good position as far as what we can do. And seeing how much more a blend of business that switched to e-commerce and direct-to-consumer, and now we’re seeing the retail side pickup, too.”

All the Kulas and DeGroot agree that their design department deserves the credit for stepping up to the challenge. “A lot of it comes from the design department, and how we’ve upgraded that,” DeGroot says.

“The [Kongsberg] table, everything is now speed and how fast you can get that, and without the proper designers, the proper equipment, we were at a disadvantage.”

Forest’s designers, Bob Pucillo and Roger Lawlor, complement each other in

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their abilities, says John. “Roger’s more on the industrial side, and he’s very creative coming up with unique ways to protect the customer’s product,” he says. “Bob’s more on the displays, the higher-end stuff. The nice thing in watching the two of them work together—Roger’s picking up more on the higher end, and Bob’s also picking up on the industrial, brown side and coming up with solutions. It’s a fun process.”

Going Forward The Forest Packaging leadership team will not rest on their oars as far as future planning is concerned. A new building is in their sights to allow for expansion and to increase their efficiencies even more. Any visitor to the company will be impressed with how much throughput they’re getting in a small, 50,000-square-foot space. John Kula has plans for adding a surge line after the Geo. M. Martin bundle breaker is installed on the die cutter to allow more output. “It’s tight, and we’re trying to maneuver,” he says.

“We’re doing all this in pretty tight quarters. A new building is on the list.

We could probably double our current footage tomorrow—that’s what we would need, at least 100,000 square feet.”

Challenge and Opportunity The Forest Packaging leadership group sees challenges ahead but also opportunities. One of the most immediate problems facing the industry is the shortage of workers. “Labor shortages are a real problem,” says John.

To counter this trend, Forest Packaging is creating incentives for current employees. “We’re offering bonuses to employees if they find someone who will be a successful employee for us,” says Greg.

“We would rather incentivize the people here than pay a signing bonus to someone we do not know,” John adds.

On the flip side, Forest Packaging has automated its processes so that fewer new people will be needed in the years ahead.

“You’re going to see a lot of companies

go that route,” says John, “because the technologies and the things we’ve done have allowed us to operate with less.”

The greatest reason for optimism and opportunity in the future, says Greg, is the very nature of the corrugated industry itself: It’s essential, it’s sustainable, and it’s domestic. “We’re a vital industry,” he says.

“If the corrugated box didn’t exist, how would everything get to market?”

“We as an industry have always been sustainable. Cutting trees, replanting trees, and recycling everything,” John adds. “We were doing that even before it was a cool thing to do.”

“Another good thing about our industry,” says Greg, “is we’re so domestic; most of our product is made here.”

“Whatever we can do, we make under our own roof,” adds John.

Positioned for Success Every company has an elevator speech.

When asked about Forest Packaging’s, John says, “We want to be your partner. If we can’t earn the business, then we don’t deserve the business.”

In an all-American, independent kind of way, Forest Packaging proves this daily. In response to its customers and the corrugated packaging market’s changing needs, Forest has pursued steady, purposeful investment in new capacity and improved throughput while staying true to its roots. A second generation of leadership—forward-looking and always customer-focused—is well-positioned for the next chapter of growth, ensuring what Greg Kula had in mind when he bought the company in 1991: A quality product, fast service, and longstanding relationships will build a successful business.  Steve Young is AICC’s ambassador-at-large.

He can be reached at 202-297-0583 or syoung@aiccbox.org.

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BOXSCORE July/August 2022

2022 MIDYEAR CONVERTERS ROUNDTABLE Boxmaker panel focuses on top-of-mind issues surrounding strategic growth and the importance of relationships

MODERATOR

A

t the AICC Spring Meeting in Palm Desert, California, members were treated to several compelling addresses, plant tours, networking opportunities, and informative sessions and panel discussions. One of those panels, moderated by Joe Morelli, vice president of sales and marketing at Huston Patterson and Lewisburg Printing Co., offered various key insights from a handful of leaders on the Association’s board. Th at session has been transcribed for BoxScore and is as follows.

Joe Morelli Vice President of Sales and Marketing HUSTON PATTERSON AND L EWISBURG PRINTING CO.

Gary Brewer

Finn MacDonald

Matt Davis

President PACKAGE CRAFTERS

President INDEPENDENT II

President PACKAGING EXPRESS INC.

BOXSCORE www.aiccbox.org

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Photo courtesy of AICC.

Panelists (from left) from AICC's Spring Meeting discussion on issues facing suppliers: Matt Davis, president, Packaging Express; Gary Brewer, CEO and president, Package Crafters; and Finn MacDonald, president, Independent II.

Joe Morelli: [AICC President] Mike D’Angelo and I did a session with [OTB Sales Solutions CEO and Founder] Mark Allen Roberts; if you haven’t heard him speak, he’s incredible. He’s got an incredible amount of data behind him. A lot of stuff he talked about was how the [COVID19] pandemic was going to change sales forever. So, the first question, gentlemen, is: As you’ve come out of the pandemic, has it altered the way you’ve dealt with your suppliers?

Gary Brewer: I’m back to normal, no restrictions. I encourage the face-toface—it’s what we all like, right? Whether somebody wants to shake hands with me or not is up to them. But back to what we used to do. I like the face-to-face.

Finn MacDonald: Yeah, and I’d add to that it’s not only what we’re doing outside as far as letting folks in—it’s what we’re doing inside as far as getting groups together for training, trying to have working lunches, trying to put emphasis on getting ahead of problems rather than reacting to them. The past couple years have been a high percentage of reaction. The fact that internally we’re trying to open up and do more as a

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group, I think, only opens a door to our supply base.

Morelli: One of the statistics that Roberts threw out there was 70% of business-to-business buyers are comfortable purchasing up to about $50,000 worth of something without ever meeting their supplier. Is that something you think applies to you, or is that perhaps in a diff erent industry?

Matt Davis: Yeah, I think it applies.

It depends on the product and if it’s something you’re familiar with, maybe a bander or something like that. I think you can make those purchases without ever meeting the person.

Morelli: I think more staggering—he threw out a half-million dollars, 30% to 35% of buyers and purchasing agents would be comfortable purchasing up to $500,000 worth of product without ever meeting one of us.

Brewer: I would say so. As long as you had a good, solid out if it didn’t meet your expectations. I did something recently— wasn’t that level, but it was more than $70,000—never met the folks. All email.

MacDonald: I’d say 50-50. Certainly if we know you, or we know of you, you’ve got a better shot at that. Carte blanche is still something that we’re not natural with.

Morelli: On the same line of the buyers and the purchasing agents that you guys have been working with, you look around the corrugated industry, and it’s aging. It’s a very experienced industry; I think that’s widely said. What we’ve noticed is a lot of the purchasing agents are the younger generation, they’re more millennial. They’re definitely younger than the bulk of us. Are there any tips on how we need to adapt to perhaps that younger buyer?

MacDonald: I’d say from our perspective, the mix of your experienced gatekeepers versus your newer entrylevel buyers, or whoever a buyer is, the problem is you still have a gatekeeper.

The gatekeeper is going to start the conversation by telling you how long they’ve been in the business, and then it’s going to go on and on and on. It’s nothing but a series of formed opinions.

Usually, they’re blocking a lot of good effort and a lot of good intelligence and a

“We’re open for new opportunities, for relationships, but we’re in a desperate need for knowledge, and we need that information to be brought to us in a way that’s accessible by a lot of folks who’ve never been in the business. Don’t tell me how much you know; help somebody who knows nothing learn something.”

—Finn MacDonald, president, Independent II

lot of good education from even getting into the company.

Somehow, you’ve got to find a way to get around the gatekeeper and get to all the hungry fish. Because we’re doing our job—we’re diversifying our company, we’re building for the future—but we’ve got plenty of departments throughout the country that need help from everybody in the room. I can’t sit there and open the

door and get you through that gatekeeper to get there. I’m willing to help, but we’ve got to find a way to get around it, because it’s what’s going to get everybody to stay in the industry. And it begins to form the relationships that bring us all together.

Morelli: Gary alluded to the relationships, the handshakes. Post-pandemic, I think a lot

of people started to figure out you could be a lot more efficient with your time if you’re not dealing with suppliers day in, day out. How much of that do you think is still true, or do you think old-school relationship-type sales is going to be around forever?

Davis: I think it’s going to be around for a long time. Kind of dovetailing on your question earlier, being a smaller business, about $70,000 would be our threshold, but any bigger purchases, we do want to have that relationship. The nice thing about the box business is throughout this whole pandemic, we never missed a shift. We’re used to going in to the office; it’s still kind of business as usual, and it’s definitely getting back to business as usual. I would say that we want that.

At least, that’s how we’re still making decisions. We want to see the suppliers.

Morelli: Moving out of the post-pandemic discussion, one of the questions that we get quite often is: What makes a great supplier?

You were talking about getting around the gatekeeper and figuring out a way to make yourself known to your team of people. In your opinion, other than a great product, how can you be a good supplier if you’re Independent II? MacDonald: I guess I had to learn my way up, so a lot of the memories that have built the relationships that allow us to do large amounts of business without seeing anybody, they were built press-side. They were built at dinners. They might have been built out in the lobby. By just the

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BOXSCORE July/August 2022

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exchange of information, not even related to what you’re selling and what I’m looking for, but general stated business, “How are things going? What are you hearing?”

I think if you can hit press-side, if you can hit dinner, if you can hit context, then you’re bringing value.

I’ve got a plant. Half of my production staff is not the same production staff that anybody in this room knew three years ago.

I’ve got a new head of maintenance that was not here three years ago. I’ve got a new design department that wasn’t here three years ago. We’re open for new opportunities, for relationships, but we’re in a desperate need for knowledge, and we need that information to be brought to us in a way that’s accessible by a lot of folks who’ve never been in the business. Don’t tell me how much you know; help somebody who knows nothing learn something. Make that first step. If you can bring that to us, then you’re going to be able to crawl, and then walk, and run pretty successfully.

Brewer: I’ll add to that. I say, “Educate me.” Us three guys, we sell for a living, right? We’ve got our customers, we’re in all shapes and sizes, different industries.

We see all different methods, practices.

We try to help those customers, “Hey, I’ve seen somebody do this a certain way,” build their trust. I say the same thing of you guys. You go in all different types of plants, locations—you see everything—so come into my plant and educate me on something that you’ve seen. It may not even be related to the product you’re selling or offering, right?

Show me something. There is no chip on my shoulder—I want to work smarter, not harder. Help me and educate me, and that, in turn, will grow.

Morelli: I think what you’re alluding to, and one of the questions, actually, I had from somebody in the audience today was, during your onboarding process for new employees, is it something that you lean on your suppliers for, to help them get caught

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BOXSCORE July/August 2022

up to speed quickly? Or is that something you just take internally?

Brewer: I would encourage that. That just makes you deeper with me, right?

If you’re an ink supplier, come pressside and help that operator or assistant operator understand what the ink is, and how to adjust it, and how to make it perform properly. Bring your knowledge and experience and help me; take that burden off.

Davis: I would agree with that. Help us establish some best practices. The sale doesn’t stop after you get the PO—we need that help all the way through. And then after, come back six months later and do an audit or help us put processes in place that catch any inefficiencies or bad habits. That’s what we would definitely appreciate.

Morelli: One of the big questions, I know, especially when I was a young sales rep in the industry, was, “How do we get to you?”

Finn, you mentioned maybe it’s just at a coff ee break. But is AICC a good platform for one of these people to come and put the hard sell on you on their product, or is it more to make the introduction and get to know you first? What would you say to this group in terms of how to get to the 400 general members that are here?

MacDonald: It’s tough. [Laughter.] I mean that in a loving way to everybody

in the room. It’s kind of tough to get to me, and that’s a lot on me. We’ve got a lot going on, but everybody has a lot going on, right? There’s not a person in the room who’s twiddling their thumbs. If there is, shame on you. It’s tough, but getting to me is really, really different than getting to my plant manager, my design manager, my buyer, my sheet buyer, and my maintenance manager. We’ve got to find a way to get to those folks. It’s the groups working under them, in our company—they’re not folks who’ve been there for 25 years. They’re folks who’ve been there for three months, a year, for three to five years. So there’s plenty of opportunity for them to learn.

As far as getting to me, the one thing I was going to ask the room would be this: You guys have such a great network.

Chances are, if five of you want to get to me, one of you is getting to me, so I would try to use the network to say, “Who in the hell’s getting ahold of Finn right now? Can you let him know that we’re trying to get ahold of him?” Let’s just help each other out. I think you do a natural job with that. But I’d say I could use the help there, because a lot of times you just get inundated, but there is somebody who’s “I’m picking up the phone to talk to Greg. Greg and I are doing something.” So, you’ve got the access. Use your coconut line, your coconut-palm

“If you’re an ink supplier, come pressside and help that operator or assistant operator understand what the ink is, and how to adjust it, and how to make it perform properly. Bring your knowledge and experience and help me; take that burden off.”

—Gary Brewer, president, Package Crafters

“I do feel that habits have changed.

Whether it’s out of fear or convenience, people are ordering stuff online. And it’s kind of ‘What do you want to do with your Saturday?’ and it’s not ‘Go shop at Target.’

—Matt Davis, president, Packaging Express Inc. tree line, and help each other out that way.

We’re OK if you’re a little devious in how you get to us. You’re a resourceful group.

Davis: I would say for all the newer members, I would encourage you to come to the meetings. I know some Associates skipped some of our meetings because they might feel a little boring or not as informative to you, but the sessions we had this afternoon applied to both

boxmakers and Associates. And the nice thing about those meetings is the boxmakers are at the tables. You can even pick who you want to sit with. If you’re new to the group, I think that’s a great way to try and get to know some other folks. And then I would just encourage you to keep coming, because with that repetition, you really get to know people.

It’s hard that first or second time, but my

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advice would be to keep coming, and we’ll do what we can.

MacDonald: Joe, I think I’d add to that.

I tell you, I still dedicate a good amount of time to old media, to our publications, and I’m extremely bullish and optimistic about our new media. There’s a new channel that the Association’s working on, and I think the combination of that and our existing print media—we’re down a publication, but we’re also backfilling that—that is something that I guarantee you our leadership group, we get two copies of each. We take it home, we do go through that page by page. Normally, it’s when we’re not at the office and there’s not a lot else going on, so it’s really, really good learning time in our example.

With the new channel that’s coming, I tell you, the amount of times we go through the break room, look out on the parking lot, we see our production staff looking at their phones. They’re looking for something. They want to see how something runs or how you set something up better. It’s such a golden opportunity to get right to the ground level, and I think we’re right at the dawn of that. I think it’s going to actually be easier that way as you work through new and old media to augment what you’re trying to achieve.

Brewer: Something I’ll add—and I think bankers are extremely effective at this— call us after 5. Because we’re there [all nodding in agreement] and nobody else.

And guess what—answering the phone.

Morelli: Better be careful what you wish for, Gary. [Laughter.] It makes sense, though.

You talked a little bit about machinery in this last topic. There’s a lot of machine reps in the audience today, a couple up on stage, too, so please chime in, if you have anything to add to the discussion. Considering today’s business conditions, the climate we’re in, the machine lead times, how are you guys projecting? How are you looking so far down the road to say, “Oh, I need a new

BOXSCORE www.aiccbox.org

41

flexo. I need a new die cutter.” How can you possibly be looking a year, year and a half down the road and say, “I need something,” when that’s the kind of lead time you’re getting at the moment?

Brewer: I don’t buy it and build the book of business on it. I build the book of business and then buy it to support it.

I’m not looking at two years down the road, what do I think I’m going to need. I develop that need and then maybe find a partner—a friend with a boat—and have them take care of it for me until that new machine comes in.

Morelli: Finn, I don’t know if you can speak to this. You’re putting a brand-new, beautiful facility in and, I’m sure, putting new equipment in. What are your thoughts on how you project down the road?

MacDonald: My only thought was, 10 or 12 years ago, when we signed a 10-year lease, it wasn’t a 14-year lease. Time just allowed us to get ahead of this tightness that we’re in. Because of that, the one thing that’s kind of interesting is there’s an opportunity for a lot of different folks to be a part of our growth. If you can’t get something new, but you need something, then you might get something used. If you can’t get something used, but you need to retrofit or refurbish or build up,

then you can do it. There’s a lot of options out there. There’s a lot of great options.

There’s a lot of ways to get around this. I think if you develop a network of folks who can say, “Listen, let me understand what your end game is, but let me help you move the pieces to get there”—we’ve got partners out there who are that creative. They’re thinking the way I think, and then they come to me, and they bring me that, and it’s very, very refreshing to have those sort of allies. I tell you, if you’re one of the few who do that, then you’re going to be in the mix for a long time. Great opportunity.

Morelli: Does the uncertain time today, over the last couple weeks with everything going on in the world, put any hesitance in your mind right now? Is there any hesitance to the risk level that we might be living in right now?

Davis: I think a little bit, for sure, but the encouraging part, we’re blessed to be in this industry, and this industry has been pretty good throughout the pandemic. I do feel that habits have changed. Whether it’s out of fear or convenience, people are ordering stuff online. And it’s kind of “What do you want to do with your Saturday?” and it’s not “Go shop at Target.” The two of the three economists

that spoke this afternoon, they encouraged us to buy equipment. That kind of stuff helps reinforce what we’re doing and gives us some confidence that the industry is strong and going to continue to be. Even though there is inflation and some uncertain times ahead, again, we’re blessed to be in this industry.

Brewer: Yeah. Hesitancy is not on the table now. Our industry’s doing well. We have our challenges, but we have to just press forward, make the decision, and keep pressing. There’s no bubble out there, in my mind. I’m not worried about that.

We’re just on a trajectory.

MacDonald: If you think about where they project the ripples, I don’t know if they project that there are going to be fewer problems, and the world is going to slow down, and folks are going to want much, much more of the same and much, much, much less of something unique and different and very focused on their business. And that’s the heart of what we do. There might be some layers above and below that could change, but the heart of what’s going on, I think, still has a bright future. It’s hard to solve labor, but we can throw technology at more quickly, more efficiently diagnosing a machine problem, get there before it happens so we save the downtime. We can communicate more easily within the plants. We can’t throw people at problems, but we can throw communication and labor and process. I think if we can do that, our little sector of manufacturing can remain bullish.

Morelli: Gentlemen, I just want to thank you personally for helping me out in doing this today and bringing something a little diff erent to this meeting, something that might change the pace a little bit and hopefully brings a bit of value to everybody in this room. Hearing directly from you on things that matter to these people is what we were trying to accomplish as a team. So, thank you all very much. 

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ith the steady rise of e-commerce and increasing need for high-graphics printing further fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for corrugated production is unprecedented. Yet the market is fragmented, with many corrugated printers and tough competition, making it increasingly important for printers to employ leading-edge

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BOXSCORE July/August 2022

technology at every step of the process to achieve optimum results.

With automated plate cleaning, drying, and infrared (IR)/UV curing systems in place, high-graphics corrugated boxmakers can produce works of unmatchable quality at unbeatable speeds in a manner that is safer and more eco-friendly than traditional methods.

The industry’s innovators have historically strived to make the press operator’s

job easier and safer. The development of most technologies has been inspired by press operators themselves.

Automated Cleaning Advantages Plate washing and the removal of print defects can cause significant downtime, and this can happen at all stages of production— at the beginning of the run at setup, within the print run, and at the end of a print run once the printed job is completed.

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Downtime or microstops are not always accounted for by production managers, and huge amounts of time can be lost on each shift for many reasons, such as print defects caused by hickeys, board wraps, premature ink drying, and ink viscosity change, which all lead to the requirement to clean printing plates.

Cleaning also takes place before good boards are printed at the beginning of a

print run, especially on multicolor work once the register between the colors is achieved, and at the end of the print run on the final washdown. With automated cleaning technology, the plates can easily be removed from the machine—clean and dry—and be directly stored in a matter of minutes.

Automated cleaning can optimize the productivity, quality, and efficiency in most print production environments.

Technical advancements such as precision spray distribution, automatic plate-thickness adjustment, and high-speed air knife for eliminating moisture on the printing plate mean that hickeys can be cleaned in an instant and that full-plate washing and drying can be achieved in minutes.

And printers have the option to clean plates simultaneously or on a selected unit.

BOXSCORE www.aiccbox.org

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The cumbersome and costly nature of manual cleaning that was the longestablished norm in offset printing led to the development of automatic blanket cleaning. For many years now, almost every offset printing machine has had an automated system to clean printing blankets. It was a game changer in the offset world and has become an essential requirement and standard part of the print process.

With flexo printing, the same trend toward automation is happening because so much time is being lost through the task of manually cleaning printing plates.

The requirement for the print quality to be maintained and for the machine to keep producing is essential—more so now than ever due to the demand of printed packaging.

Cleaning has a significant and direct impact on production and waste costs and becomes expensive for companies that are trying to compete without understanding and accounting for how much time they are losing and how much waste they are producing.

Along with the direct labor costs, consequently, time spent manually cleaning restricts output, which ultimately means fewer square meters of board produced from the machine.

Automated systems can eliminate all this wasted time in a very efficient way and help maintain the print quality.

Story after story from printers using the technology demonstrate how attractive the return on investment (ROI) is by reinvesting on other machines once they see the huge savings in time and increased efficiency with an initial installation.

Plate cleaning can also free up muchneeded capacity to produce extra print jobs or additional maintenance time that is sometimes difficult to schedule.

IR Drying IR drying is a critical factor in all high-quality printing processes. Not only

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“Automated drying systems strive to reduce human intervention while maximizing system performance and efficiency.” does it facilitate a dramatic improvement in image sharpness and quality by reducing absorption into corrugated board, it dramatically enhances color vibrancy and opacity. IR dryers also boost productivity in corrugated printing processes, and the shortwave modular lamphead concept is still the most popular dryer configuration for corrugated printers today.

Automated drying systems strive to reduce human intervention while maximizing system performance and efficiency. For example, smart IR sensors measure the temperature differential before and after the dryer, automatically adjusting the power level to ensure the minimum amount of energy is used for any given speed, with the maximum drying effect achieved.

Prior to this type of system, operators would often have the dryer set for a given job and would not always reduce the power setting for slower run speeds or lower ink-density work. This resulted in wasted energy and, in most cases, far too much IR energy to the substrate, which can cause print unit overheating, printing plate drying issues, or, in the worst cases, a safety risk.

Easing Operators’ Burdens Another consideration to explore in order to fully leverage the advantage of IR drying is whether the segments are modular and can be easily changed without any tools in the event of a lamp failure or other malfunction. Most of today’s solutions require tools and extensive downtime to replace a bulb. The most advanced systems ensure that lamp changes have a very minimal impact on the overall efficiency, which includes

ensuring that removing the module from the lamphead is a toolless operation that can be completed in a matter of seconds.

Modular segments have the added advantage of allowing the operator to manually adjust the width of the dryer depending on the board that is being run.

In some cases, it is possible to automatically adjust the width of the dryer from the signal from the press, removing another step.

Intelligent control allows operators to go a step further and turn off individual modules where there isn’t any print. All these incremental savings add up to quite significant energy savings and improved overall process efficiency.

Automation takes away processes from operators where possible to reduce overburdening them. There’s no point in having optimum settings for a given job if the operator is constantly having to manually make adjustments. With an automated drying system, the operator can call up configured settings from previous jobs and enable them again to quickly have the best finely tuned settings for the conditions.

IoT Advantages Integrated Internet of Things (IoT) is another invaluable feature that facilitates preventive maintenance by issuing prompts and eliminating unplanned downtime. This technology allows operators to view a system live to see if there’s anything starting to go wrong with it. It’s like the oil light in a car that comes on quite early, and once the oil is changed, it’s good to go. Without that early indicator, the next sign that the car is in need of oil is when the engine

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blows, which is a much bigger, more expensive problem.

Efficiency Meets Quality The key to benefiting fully from cleaning and drying automation is accomplishing time savings alongside maintaining the overall print quality that brands and consumers have come to expect.

Operators generally spend huge amounts of time cleaning and are nonproductive at all stages of the process. It can take 10 or 15 minutes for each plate every time to stop. And that’s for each and every print job that could happen multiple times throughout the shift. Imagine having a four-, five-, or six-color print job and that most of these machines are anywhere from 2.1 to 2.8 meters wide; it’s an extremely time-consuming task to accomplish manually.

During the production run, a huge amount of time is lost from stopping the machine to clean hickeys off and to clean debris from the printing plate in order to maintain print quality, the demand for which is ever-increasing from customers.

This all contributes to a loss of operating efficiency.

Printers are reliant on their operators to go into the unit to clean off the defects and get the machine running again. It’s all lost time on a regular basis—on every job, every shift, every day, many, many times over.

Automation removes all the manual requirements to clean and dry the plate, accomplishing it instead with just a push of a button in one pass, with the ability to clean and dry each and every plate singly or consecutively throughout the machine.

All the ink and all the paper fibers can be easily captured in each clean in a matter of minutes—with systems that require only seconds of contact with the printing plate in the production room—versus 10 minutes on average with each stop for an operator to do it manually.

48

BOXSCORE July/August 2022

“Beyond profitability, companies are continually striving to be more sustainable, and the two can be achieved hand in hand with good, reliable, proven equipment.”

Today’s state-of-the-art automated cleaning technology can save around 98% of time from stopping the press during production and 80% of time lost at the beginning and end of a print run, so the ROI is significant.

Looking Ahead Over the past few years, the corrugated industry has seen a sharp rise in the demand for increased print quality and complexity. Printers are seeking presses with more print units to achieve this quality work and the complexity of color. With that, there has been a trend of integrating lots of energy into presses to achieve a better drying effect. It’s a common misconception that more and more power and even bigger, wider cassettes are needed to achieve a strong drying result.

Tests have shown that there can be too much energy flowing into the ink and that having a large module— or lots of energy per print unit— can be counterproductive as the ink fi lm layer can only absorb so much energy. Overheating can also result in pigment melting, which reverses the drying effect. A more targeted system—intelligently controlled, closed-loop, and with minimal intervention—is the most efficient and best-performing solution.

Beyond profitability, companies are continually striving to be more sustainable, and the two can be achieved hand in hand with good, reliable, proven equipment. Case by case, we hear from

printers using state-of-the-art cleaning and drying technologies that they are reaping the benefits by hitting targets that they’ve never hit before in production. We’re also having many repeat customers come back for new machines that they’re investing in and for retrofitting old machines.

There’s a need for printers to adapt and invest in the latest automated technology to increase time and to become more competitive. There’s no doubt that these technologies will become a standard installation on new machines in the future, and the trend is already evident.

On the cutting edge, alongside cleaning and drying technology, are inspection systems that complete a fully closed-loop system that can further enhance both productivity and quality.

Those on the forefront of the next revolution are analyzing data and measuring metrics through connected machines and IoT technology.  Myles Le-Monte Shepherd is a sales executive, new markets, at Baldwin Technology.

Lee Simmonds is sales manager, U.K., Ireland, and Nordic regions, at Baldwin Technology.

Thank You, Education Investors These companies are making a significant contribution to the online education available to all AICC members.

For more information, contact Mike D’Angelo, President, 703.535.1386 or mdangelo@aiccbox.org.

Exhibit Hall Hours: Tuesday, September 20 12:00pm - 5:00pm

To Exhibit, Contact: Linda Cohen lcohen@tappi.org 914-944-0135

FOOD COURT

Precision Sharp Industrial International Contractors Group (PIC)

Quest7

132

332

233

130

330

231

333

432

Corrugated Training & Services

331

20' 20'

430

531 KCF Technologies

128 Barberán S.A.

20'

124

129 127

228

429

20'

American Engineered Baler Recycling

226

20'

125

224

225

Dieco/ Graphics 2 Press 20'

220

221

327

Systems

20'

WSA USA, LLC

427 OMP

325

424

FujiFilm North America 20'

JB Mercury Machinery USA INC Inc.

20' 20'

20'

425

524

Re S.p.A.

527

Stafford Cutting Dies

Corrugated ARC Chemicals International

20' 20'

Muhlen Sohn Inc 20'

525

624

116

119 117

218

BGM Bahmueller & Goepfert

216

114 112

219

318

418

319

Air Systems RapidBond Design, Inc. 20' 20'

213

20'

106

111 109 107

208

Zund America, Inc.

206

104 Boiler & Steam Performance

20'

100

20' 20'

101

200

518

MoistTech HansenRice, Corp.

Inc.

729

828

Global Boxmachine, LLC

727

826

625

725

20'

20'

20'

20'

INNOVEYAN CE 20'

519

619

CST Cuir Systems Corrugated Inc. J.M. Fry Absolute/ Printing Pamarco Inks

824

Blower Application Company

Baumer hhs

Pace Punches, Inc.

Tien Chin Yu Machinery

721 719

314

Balemaster

315

20'

Flint Group

Geo. M. Martin Company

414

DuckerErhardt & Leimer Ringwood Automation Inc.

313

412

20'

513

20'

BHS Robotics

615

Valco Melton

Alliance Machine Systems International, LLC

409

20'

DICAR Inc.

20'

X

HP

20' 20'

20'

207

307

Mitsubishi COPAR Heavy Industries Corporation America

BW Papersystems

201

301

20' 20'

300

20'

Amtech Software

406

20'

407

20'

20'

20'

Fosber America

20'

717

930

20'

EAMMosca Corp 825

Automated Conveyor Systems, Inc. (ACS)

20'

819

Zenith Cutter

Walla Walla Environmental

Maren Balers & Shredders

CloudLab

933 931

1032

Albany KERNIC International SYSTEMS INC.

20'

20'

920 918

925

1026

1027 1126

Insun

Mid America Durst Image Paper Technology Recycling U.S. LLC

1024

919

816

ADI/ PDM Trade 20' Group 20'

Kiwiplan Inc.

813

20'

20'

501

711

20'

Haire Group

20'

20'

20'

20'

20'

Signode 20'

701

National Roll Kote 20'

1125 1123

20'

1020

CORRCAFE 30'

1018 JJC

912

LLC

917

1016

Wulftec International

Stickle Steam

915 INX International Ink

913

1017

TOMYAMADA Kikai Kogyo

1121 Borregaard USA

1119 1115

1014

20'

Deublin

1012

1113 Moffitt Corp.

ICASA

810

Hanglory USA 707

SUN Automation Group 601

20'

1025 1124

Olympic

Wire & Apex International Equipment

20'

20'

1131

1030

OpSigal Services

712

607

KOLBUS

20'

401

20'

831

932

Koenig & Bauer

Eaglewood Corrugated Technologies Replacements

507

TISCO/ HARPER

820

20'

613

Baldwin Technology Co. Inc.

210 Digital Print Inc.

419

20'

Sauer System

Helix Laboratories

110

730

Stafford Corrugated Products

20'

118

732

631

528

Heraeus Noblelight America LLC

Green Markets & Bloomberg Co.

HITEK Equipment Inc.

JKSP Services/ International Corrucleaner Baler Corp.

Nye Lubricants

122 120

630

Kongsberg Precision Cutting Systems

633

GENERAL SESSION / WHAT'S NEW

Photos courtesy of AICC.

Wednesday, September 21 12:00pm - 4:00pm

20'

A.G. Stacker, Inc.

20'

Samuel Packaging Advantzware Systems Group

20' 20'

807

907

Baysek Nextwire, Machines LLC. Inc.

Paper EMBA Machinery and Dust AB Pros

801

901

20' 20'

900

1006

20' 20'

1000

1011 1110

Kohler Coating 20'

TAPPISAFE Rochester

1009

Anilox Roll Cleaning Systems, Inc. (ARCS)

Midland Corporation

20'

1007 1106

Quantum Ink

1107 1105

20'

BHS Corrugated

20'

1001

1109

Kadant Johnson Inc. 20'

1101

TO GENERAL SESSION

ENTRANCE

50

BOXSCORE July/August 2022

6/1/2022 3:17 PM

SEE YOU IN SAN ANTONIO

A

ICC and TAPPI look forward to welcoming thousands of participants to Corrugated Week 2022 at the Grand Hyatt San Antonio Riverwalk Hotel in San Antonio, September 19–21. With numerous networking opportunities, educational breakouts, inspiring keynote speakers, and a packed trade show floor, this is the can’t-miss event of 2022. Attendees will see a true Texas experience with an authentic western-heritage rodeo at Tejas Rodeo.

Attendees will also be able to participate in the 2022 Corrugated Week Golf Classic at The Quarry Golf Course and a two-day production seminar.

See the full schedule of events and event sponsors, and learn more at www.corrugatedweek.org. 

SPONSORS:

BOXSCORE www.aiccbox.org

51

The Associate Advantage

Mitigating Risk, Investing in Our Future

BY GREG JONES GREG JONES SUN AUTOMATION GROUP VICE CHAIRMAN GREG.JONES@SUNAUTOMATION.COM

JOE MORELLI HUSTON PATTERSON PRINTERS CHAIRMAN JMORELLI@HUSTONPATTERSON.COM

TIM CONNELL A.G. STACKER INC. SECRETARY TCONNELL@AGSTACKER.COM

JOHN BURGESS PAMARCO DIRECTOR JOHN.BURGESS@PAMARCO.COM

PAT SZANY AMERICAN CORRUGATED MACHINE CORP. IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN PSZANY@ACM-CORP.COM

52

BOXSCORE July/August 2022

O

ne common challenge among employers is the continued loss of skilled labor. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, an aging workforce, and limited interest from candidates have created a gap that will be challenging to cover. Industrial modernization and automation are helping to mitigate some of these issues, but it isn’t enough.

The need to recruit, train, and retain is ever more critical for success. Although we need to recruit, we are losing those who can train and onboard new staff. “If you are looking to hire experienced and dedicated employees of past generations, you will be hard-pressed to find them—they simply aren’t around anymore,” shared one prominent CEO during a recent Fibre Box Association conference. As baby boomers near retirement, we stand to lose 25% of our workforce.

In addition, younger generations have different demands and experiences. Most candidates look for benefits around flexible work hours, work-from-home policies, and child care options, to name a few. The challenge is that these make onboarding and collaboration among staff even more difficult. With that said, I personally embraced the CEO’s comments and agree that while we need to be flexible, we also need to consider how these demands affect productivity.

To align company needs with employee demands, many box plants are shifting strategies. Another CEO shared how their company simplified its online application process to be more inclusive and userfriendly for prospective employees with language barriers or limited computer skills. Others are holding in-house job fairs to allow recruits to fully experience

the roles and opportunities within the company before they commit.

Once new recruits are employed, a common retention strategy is to match them with a mentor. Typically, a senior manager will be assigned to check in regularly with a new hire to help manage employee satisfaction and provide consistent support and training. Another executive mentioned how they don’t set overtime hours for the first 90 days so that they don’t scare new hires.

We are fortunate that associations such as AICC have invested in the cause and are providing tools we can all leverage.

AICC has done a tremendous job providing online education and on-site seminars for career development. As of March, AICC members completed more than 10,600 online courses—reinforcing the hunger for knowledge and training. The pandemic did help to drive those numbers, as many people were searching for online resources and tailored education as a result.

If your company has not already committed, I would certainly encourage you to consider becoming an AICC Education Investor or make a commitment to the Foundation for Packaging Education—or both! Sometimes the best gift we can give is the gift of learning. The Foundation for Packaging Education is instrumental in offering premier educational programming, products, and services to help sustain the industry overall.

To better understand these offerings, please reach out to AICC Director of Education and Professional Development Taryn Pyle at tpyle@aiccbox.org.  Greg Jones is executive vice president at SUN Automation Group and is vice chairman of AICC’s Associate board.

It’s time to revolutionize The new CorruCUT rotary die-cutter pushes what is possible

The CorruCUT is designed for high-performance rotary production of die-cut corrugated products with ultimate flexo post-printing quality. You will achieve paramount performance from the latest embedded technology with a brand new operating concept.

It is available with the industry's shortest lead time from our factory to your floor.

The CorruCUT has a maximum production output of 12,000 boards per hour, including setup while running, integrated remote maintenance for the ultimate uptime, and the easiest machine to operate – the CorruCUT will increase your profitability.

Call us to set up a custom demonstration.

Koenig & Bauer (+1) 502 310-1368 tom.fitzgerald@koenig-bauer.com koenig-bauer.com

What the Tech?

What You Need to Know About Remote-Assistance AR Programs

BY STEPHEN LASLO

L

ack of knowledge transfer from retiring workers, inexperienced operators, and continued production pressures remain significant challenges for independent box plants. One solution to keep equipment up, running, and productive is the new world of remote assistance augmented reality (AR) programs. Such programs enable plant managers, technicians, operators, and engineers to share issues and collaborate with an OEM’s technical support staff in real time, direct from their facility via a provided smart tablet and dedicated app.

When properly designed and executed, these platforms allow technical support staff to resolve machine issues and assist in troubleshooting—complete with annotating and drawing right on the device. This allows them to share text on the screen and take pictures or videos for optimal documentation.

Another hallmark of these solutions is the inclusion of a comprehensive library of intuitive reference manuals and training materials using 3D models of

54

BOXSCORE July/August 2022

the equipment. Ideally, this will include all basic machine calibrations, wear parts replacement, operations, lubrication, and other advanced machine protocols.

A key benefit is the ability to troubleshoot machine issues without involving expensive emergency service visits. Plant managers, engineers, and technicians are able to rapidly share issues in real time from their facilities directly with OEM staffers, enabling them to minimize downtime and provide fast solutions.

From my position at the Corrugating Machinery division of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, I can share a telling anecdote from late last year that shows a remote-assistance AR program in action.

A customer in Brazil was encountering what seemed to be a major equipment malfunction, in this case one of our EVOLs. Communicating over the phone and via email was challenging, between the language barrier and inexperienced maintenance techs. After days of struggling, this customer was convinced that an emergency rebuild was required.

We were told to immediately ship parts and send a technician, as they couldn’t afford even more downtime.

Sending a technician quickly would be difficult.

The COVID-19 Delta variant was raging, our technicians had not done any international travel for 18 months, and all of the technicians’ work visas for Brazil had expired. Travel to Brazil

at that time was extremely difficult in any event, as the U.S. government was requiring all internationally traveling citizens to show proof of a negative test taken within one day of their return flight and then another test after landing. My team knew that shipping emergency parts to Brazil was difficult during normal times, and these times were far from normal.

This is where a remote-assistance AR program came to the rescue. It allowed our engineers to see what users were looking at in the field, using AR annotations to put virtual instructions on top of physical objects. The team was able to walk the customer through every relevant checkpoint on that section of the machine.

The visual representation of instructions really helped to overcome the language and experience barriers. Through several key measurements, our technicians learned that there was no major mechanical problem at all. It turned out that an uncommon machine calibration issue was the real cause of the problem. Under the team’s guidance, our customer recalibrated the machine and got it back up and running—no need for an expensive on-site emergency job.

Our investment in this sophisticated technology platform has been well worth it, benefiting customers far beyond our friends in Brazil. OEMs can play an even more vital role in partnering with their customers to ensure productive operations.  Stephen Laslo is digital technology and training supervisor, Corrugating Machinery division, at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America.

Do You Support Industy Education & Growth?

Support the Foundation for Packaging Education. www.PackagingEd.org/Donate

Strength in Numbers

Alternative Business Modeling

BY MITCH KLINGHER

F

should always produce a profit. This of 3. Other information used for allocaor many years, I have been urging course assumes that you can make every tions, such as: converters to break with the convensale at the desired ROS, which, in point a. Square footage occupied by the tional wisdom of full absorption costing, of fact, is rarely the case. If you are going machine center but without it many of you seem lost. to use this type of system, you must look b. Horsepower of the machine Pricing based upon some concept of return at the material and labor variances in each c. Expected crew sizes on sale (ROS) seems deeply ingrained in job and the total budget variance and the d.Projected delivery miles and your business DNA, and even though you total volume variance that will invariably cube utilization know in your heart of hearts that it doesn’t occur at the company level each month. By e. Expected setup times and really work, you desperately cling to it. Your looking at these variances and adjusting run speeds for each piece current system may be a “black box” created the model and the efficiency of each order, of equipment by someone else based upon a mysterious you can ultimately achieve a well-functionBased upon the above, a machine center but supposedly rational system, but you ing system. rate is calculated, and every order will are hesitant to give it up until you find In practice, almost no one looks at contain a calculation of materials, charges something that makes sense to you.

The answer to this problem is really quite for other variable costs such as labor, repairs, these variances on a regular basis and adjusts the machine efficiencies on each utilities, supplies, a machine center charge, simple and straightforward. Conventional order or the expense and volume budgets a delivery charge, an allocation of overhead, absorption accounting is geared to that are fundamental to the system. So, and a provision for profit. The system will calculating contribution margin and ROS. what you end up with is finding ways to then calculate the expected contribution Using the concepts of throughput and “trick” your system to come up with what from the sale and the expected ROS. The velocity, as I’ve discussed in many previous you think are competitive prices that will worksheets and various other calculations articles, requires adding the dimension of generate profits for you. that underly all of this are complicated and time to this equation. The key issues here A better approach would be to model cumbersome and often very hard to discern. are the methodology used to calculate your company based upon projected The theory is that each order must absorb throughput or contribution, and how can machine hours that are available for sale a portion of the company’s overhead. As you best measure time/velocity, without and setting a goal for the contribution dollong as the expected expenses are the same completely scrapping your existing system? lars per hour. You can define contribution as or lower than the budgeted expenses All of you have a system that creates specs, (sales less variable costs) any way that you and the projected volume is higher than orders, invoices, etc. Your people know think makes sense within your operating the expected volume, this type of system how to use these systems, and it would be costly and disruptive to try to replace them. My recommenABC SHEET PLANT ALTERNATIVE BUSINESS MODELING dation is to use the existing F/YE 12/31/20X2 systems but with an alternative 20X1 20X2 $/HR CONTRIB NOTES simplified business model that MACHINE ROUTING RUN SETUP TOTAL RUN SETUP TOTAL is based upon hours.

Small Flexo 1020 476 1496 1500 650 2150 $875 $1,881,250 Adding a Shift Conventional cost models Midsized Flexo 877 523 1400 1100 600 1700 $1,100 1,870,000 start with the following: Jumbo Rotary/Gluer 974 452 522 700 600 1300 $900 1,170,000 New Accounts 1. Expense budget for the Jumbo Rotary/Stitcher 543 623 1166 500 575 1075 $1,050 1,128,750 following year stratified 3-C Rotary D/C 1234 422 1656 1250 400 1650 $1,250 2,062,500 by fi xed, semifi xed, and 4-C Inside Out Rotary D/C 0 750 250 1000 $1,000 1,000,000 New Machine variable costs.

Label/Rdc/Sfg 874 345 1219 1000 400 1400 $1,100 1,540,000 2. Expected footage to 10,652,500 be converted at each Fixed Costs 8,175,000 machine center.

Operating Income $2,477,500

56

BOXSCORE July/August 2022

People | Knowledge | Software | Services

Reduce your carbon footprint Fuel, material and operational costs are increasing. Call Kiwiplan to discuss how Transportation Logistics, Supply Chain Analysis and remote services solutions enhance your current (and future!) Kiwiplan configuration.

I

Front Office • Enterprise Sales Processing • Costing and Pricing • Messaging and Portals

Business Intelligence • Data Warehouse • Dashboards and Analysis Tools

Manufacturing • Corrugator Scheduling • Automated Scheduling Corrugator and Converting • Production Control and Shop Floor • Quality Management • Intelligent Machinery Connectivity • Productivity/Performance Displays • WIP and FGS Load Tags

Inventory and Logistics • Supply Chain Management • Roll Stock Management and Sourcing • WIP and FGS Tracking • Material Management • Procurement and Inventory Control • Truck/Transport Scheduling Find us on

visit www.kiwiplan.com

Strength in Numbers

methodology. I like to use throughput dollars, which treats materials and commissions as the only true variable costs of the order. My only admonition here is that you reconcile the contribution dollars that the estimating system calculates to the contribution dollars on your actual financial statements. If the numbers are reasonably close and the estimating system is calculating lower contribution than the actual contribution on the financial statements, then in my opinion, you have a very functional system.

The entire planning process can look something like the table on p. 56. You set a target for contribution dollars per hour that each order occupies the machine center (for run and setup) and use this target to evaluate each order. What you will find is that it becomes easy to see which orders are below your standards, and it enables you to take quick action to improve them or decide not to run them. The focus then becomes creating more uptime at each machine center, and calculating the effect of each new piece of business can be quickly evaluated through this lens of dollars per hour. The effect of faster setup times and faster run speeds will be easy to monetize, and you can begin to integrate your plant results and goals into your financial statements.

No matter what ERP system you utilize, this type of alternative business modeling is easily achievable and will allow you to finally understand what effect each order has on the company’s bottom line, without the need for complicated allocations and the determination of what expenses each order has to absorb in order for you to make the desired profits. More machine hours to sell and a higher sales price per hour become the new focus for your business.  Mitch Klingher is a partner at Klingher Nadler LLP. He can be reached at 201-731-3025 or mitch@ klinghernadler.com.

58

BOXSCORE July/August 2022

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AICC BoxScore 3.25x8.25.indd 1

12/3/21 2:24 PM

Foundation for Packaging Education

A Foundation Primer

A

s efforts for fundraising and signing up more donors for the Foundation for Packaging Education continue, it is a good time to remind AICC members of the Foundation’s mission.

Through the foundation, AICC member companies, industry foundations, and government granting agencies will support the development and dissemination of employee education and training resources for workers in the corrugated, folding carton, rigid box, and related supply chain industries.

Funds raised by the Foundation for Packaging Education will be used to support existing workforce development by: 1. Underwriting costs associated with providing education and training programs to the industry, curriculum development, learning

60

BOXSCORE July/August 2022

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

management system platform costs, and instructor fees, thus helping to lower training costs for AICC members.

Providing funds for a formalized certificate skills achievement program.

Funding the creation of aptitude testing for pre-applicants for defined in-plant positions.

Providing funds for in-person, goal-based training programs for manufacturing floor teams.

Providing funds for educational and scientific research.

Developing and supporting paperbased packaging industry-specific education and training programs.

Funding and administering AICC’s Troll Memorial Scholarship Program.

8. Assisting members in developing internship programs for their companies.

9. Translating online courses into the Spanish language.

10. Underwriting professional services, instructor fees, and staff support needed to oversee the execution and completion of all foundation activities.

The foundation is well on the way to meeting the fi nancial goals required to support the above. Please consider joining the more than 40 AICC boxmaker and supplier companies that have already made pledges. Visit www.packaginged.org to make a pledge today. Your employees will thank you for ensuring their continued growth and education. 

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– from basic external box and pre-set top die-cutting, to complex full creasing and bottom die-cutting from inside the box.

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Liljedal Communication 2021

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International Corrugated Packaging Foundation I N T E R N AT I O N A L

PACKAGING

CORRUGATED

F O U N D AT I O N

INTERNATIONAL CORRUGATED PACKAGING FOUNDATION’S

Oh

g

hO g

December 9 - 11, 2022

SUPPORT ICPF’S EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS & OUTREACH ATTEND ICPF’S 2022 HOLIDAY WEEKEND IN NEW YORK

Socialize – Enjoy the best New York City has to offer during the holiday season. Network and strengthen new ties within the industry. By participating you will be supporting the International Corrugated Packaging Foundation (ICPF).

Program – Participants will begin with a Friday evening reception, sponsored by Pratt Industries. On Saturday, participants will attend a matinee of the latest Broadway hit, MJ, sponsored by BW Papersystems. Saturday night, join executives and spouses for a reception and dinner at a renowned New York restaurant. The reception is sponsored by Fosber America and the dinner is sponsored by WestRock.

In addition to participating, many executives (manufacturing executives, box plant owners & executives, and service & supplier executives) invite clients, and reward key executives from their companies with this special holiday weekend event.

Free time on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will allow for holiday shopping, sightseeing, museums, additional Broadway plays, and dining at New York’s finest.

Due to limited capacity, registration is on a “first come, first serve” basis.

“It is a special opportunity to join peers in an informal social environment. ICPF’s holiday weekend in New York is one of the most unique events in the industry. Your participation supports ICPF, an important resource for our future.”

Contact Registration@icpfbox.org for a Registration Form or Download at www.careersincorrugated.org

hg

h O g 62

BOXSCORE July/August 2022

h O g

Past supporters and participants have included AccuBond Corp., Akers Packaging, American Corrugated Machine, Amtech, Arden Software, Atlas Container, Bates Container, Balemaster, Baumer HHS, Bay Cities, Bobst North America, Brian Thomas Display, Buckeye Corrugated Inc., BW Papersystems, Carlisle Container, Cascades Containerboard Packaging, CEL Chemical, Central Packaging & Display, Color Resolutions International, Corrugated Replacements Inc., Corrugated Technologies, Custom Packaging, Deline Box, Dicar Inc., DiTech, Eam-Mosca, EFI, Esko, Flexo Concepts, Fitzpatrick Container, Foley & Lardner, Fosber America, Gerber Technology, Goepfert Maschinen, Green Bay Packaging, Greif, G. T. Hall Investments, Haire Group, Harris Packaging, Hood Container Corp., Huston Patterson, ICCA, Interstate Resources, JB Machinery, J. M. Fry Inks, KapStone, KemiArt, Kiwiplan, Kruger, Landaal Packaging, Lansmont Corporation, Latitude Machinery, Liberty Diversified International, MichCor Container, Mid-Atlantic Packaging, Mitchel-Lincoln Packaging, Moore Packaging, Morphy Containers, Packaging Corporation of America, Packaging Express, Package X, Pratt Industries, President Container, Progress Container & Display, PXI Digital Solutions, Robert Mann Packaging, Schwarz Partners, Serenity Packaging, Signode, Shipping Container Corp., Simpson Paper, Smurfit Kappa, Sound Packaging, StandFast Packaging, Sumter Packaging, TAPPI, Testing Machines Inc., Triad Packaging, U.S. Corrugated Inc., Vanguard Packaging, Wasatch Container, Western Corrugated Design, WestRock, York Container, AICC, and the Fibre Box Association.

BREAKING DOWN BOXES

Compelling Conversations with Entrepreneurs with Hosts Gene Marino and Joe Morelli

Subscribe Wherever You Listen to Podcasts AICCbox.org/Boxes

The Final Score

The 10 Commandments of Leadership

I

’ve had the privilege of sitting in on several of the podcast recording sessions of Breaking Down Boxes. AICC Chairman Gene Marino and AICC Associate Committee Chairman Joe Morelli have created a wonderful series that has something for every AICC member to take away. The stories that have been shared have been compelling and inspiring. Sitting down with independent boxmaker and supplier leaders and hearing about their successes, failures, and the lessons learned—and getting insight into how these people became successful—is truly educational. You seem to agree, as Breaking Down Boxes ranks highly in terms of audience out of the millions of business podcasts that are out there.

My last few columns have been reflective of my experiences in this great business, the path I’ve followed, and the leadership positions that I’ve gained, including my current gig as a leader of this wonderful Association.

One of the frequently asked questions when Marino and Morelli are interviewing involves leadership style and methods. This made me think about my own leadership philosophies, which have been constantly evolving but have always had common threads.

About 20 years ago, I came across an item that I felt perfectly summarized the themes I’d followed. I don’t know who the author is, so I cannot credit that person, but I’ve had a piece of paper with these words prominently displayed in every cubicle and office I have ever occupied—a daily reminder.

The 10 Commandments of Leadership 1. Always do what is right, no matter what.

2. Be kind and caring.

3. Be brave.

4. Be yourself, authentic, and genuine.

5. Put employees first; they will take care of everything else.

6. Be humble and appreciative.

7. Treat everyone fairly, including those who oppose you or do not like you.

8. Trust your people to do their jobs.

9. Focus on creating opportunities, not rules.

10. Do not leave anyone behind.

So many different personalities make up organizations, companies, and associations. For that reason, you cannot deal with each and every person the same way. But you can still be true to the 10 Commandments of Leadership with each and every unique individual in your organization. They are 10 common denominators for your interactions. They are also a strong basis for servant leadership, which I believe makes the strongest organizations and creates the most loyal workforce.

Being a leader can be hard. But following each of these 10 directives is, or should be, at face value, easy. Why? Because they are optimistic, and we all need to be optimists to lead effectively.

Finally, following these 10 Commandments of Leadership will take care of the most important responsibility leaders have—to care for their people. This responsibility is best summarized in the following quote from Bill Treasurer, chief encouragement officer at Giant Leap Consulting: “Always remember that leadership is a privilege. When you’re in a leadership role, your influence may affect the Michael D’Angelo trajectories of people’s entire careers (and often their lives)!”

AICC President

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