On the face of it, heavy-duty corrugated board packaging might seem straightforward. In reality, however, there are variations on triple-wall and double-wall grades that carry more weight than others.
While the capability to deliver on applications designed to ship products that weigh more than a tonne is limited by the high cost of investing in appropriate equipment, some re-definition of what falls within the sector’s remit is easing the point of entry for additional suppliers of conventional-strength converted material.
DS Smith and SCA are the only main players in the UK producing high-grade double- and triple-wall board made from heavier papers such as wet-strength kraft. Their hold on the market is unlikely to be challenged, says Phil Rees, DS Smith Tri-Wall speciality packaging manager. “Some of the lighter-weight boxes are trying to break into the heavy-duty market at the lower end, but the investment and expertise required to produce true heavy-duty board – especially triple-wall – creates a real barrier for them,” he says.
Typical dimensions of a three-machine corrugator, including extended drying and heating systems, would be 2.5x8m in terms of the finished blank size. Aside from the significant cost of such a big piece of kit, market share doesn’t warrant the investment with volumes diminishing in line with the overall erosion of UK manufacturing and industrial sectors.
Even so, manufacturers such as Mondi and Smurfit Kappa – both of which offer CA grades – undoubtedly have the necessary market connections and design expertise to produce cost-competitive board-based solutions punching slightly below top-weight requirements.
“The maximum weight that can be carried in a heavy-duty box is difficult to define, as it depends on the type of goods, packing, shipping method and final destination,” says Christina Raimann, marketing manager for Mondi Packaging Corrugated Services. “But as a general rule of thumb, CA or AA board can handle up to 0.5 tonnes and CAA up to one tonne.”
Corrugated for car-makers
The Mondi Bux plant in Diss has invested £3.6m in new case-making kit to produce heavy-duty CA board boxes up to 1.2x1x1m printed in two colours and including either stitched, glued or taped joints. As of January, Mondi will be looking to break into the heavy-duty market – not least within the UK automotive sector, still the second largest in Europe. In addition to the Bux factory, Mondi is now also manufacturing CA flat-board and converted applications out of France, Germany and Poland.
Interest being shown by mid-stream manufacturers in heavy-duty applications has in part been stimulated by the overall sluggishness of the UK corrugated industry.
According to Andrew Barnetson, corrugated sector manager at the Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI), domestic market consumption has remained more or less static over the past three years. “While I’m not aware of anything that’s impacting upon heavy-duty that wouldn’t be applicable to the rest of
the corrugated sector, there is no doubt that a combination of energy price increases and escalating legislative and regulatory burdens placed upon mills have taken their toll on manufacturers. It all leads to a scarcity of raw materials,” he says.
“There was a huge and very sudden hike in energy prices 18 months ago, which hit the paper manufacturers very hard. Although it’s true there has been an impact on all substrates, paper is a particularly significant energy user. Furthermore, very often as legislation comes into the UK, it is gold- plated; when the government does its own interpretation, domestic producers are often disadvantaged in comparison to other European countries. Flat board is coming into the UK from French and German suppliers, who are increasingly finding export to be both economic and competitive.”
With usage across all grades running at 1.33 million tonnes, as of the end of August, Barnetson predicts a year-end total of around 2.1 million tonnes – pretty much on a par with the 2.046 million and 2.047 million reported for 2006 and 2005 respectively.
While no figures specific to heavy-duty corrugated packaging are available, the size of the sector is almost certainly well below 15% of the total. With no one likely to invest in a new triple-wall corrugator line in the UK, given the nature of the industry – and although more of a possibility, upgrading is still bound to incur a significant cost – the only realistic options within the conventional mid-range are to fight it out for retail-ready business on a commodity pricing basis, or else to explore the potential for added-value twin-wall applications.
The main competition to double- and triple-wall corrugated board in the heavy-duty sector comes from wood, steel and rigid plastic constructions – none of which can match corrugated’s sustainability, or performance against cost, in delivering customised solutions.
“The product is extremely versatile in that it is more flexible than wood and does not entail the high tooling costs often needed with plastic. It depends on the application,” says Rees.
“Corrugated allows for good printability and because it has an in-built cushioning effect, it’s a far more tolerant substrate for the protection of fragile or sensitive products,” he says.
A three-week timeframe within which to move from design concept to final delivery is not uncommon. Compare this with a similar gestation period for the development of a plastic or steel equivalent, which can run over months.
Additional benefits include assembly from flat board on-site to reduce warehousing. It is lightweight in transit (in addition to the carton itself), a compressed corrugated pallet capable of bearing a two-tonne load weighing only 5kg, much less than a wooden equivalent. It has the flexibility to act as either a single-use or returnable solution as required. Applications of DS Smith’s Unipak RTP solution, incorporating a corrugated sleeve and a plastic cap and tray, have been in use for nearly 15 years.
Bespoke boxes
“A box isn’t just a box when it comes to heavy-duty, because it’s designed to meet a specific performance and handling characteristic. For example, a lot of heavy-duty boxes incorporate special die-cutting for handling, storage or quick erection,’ says Rees. “The interior fittings can be very complicated for, say, a pack to hold and transport automotive components. We produce diverse products, such as boxes with a temperature-resistant film applied to the interior that are used to ship temperature-sensitive products by airfreight.
“FMCG, food and pharmaceuticals customers are all turning to high-performance corrugated, which can add value to their businesses in a number of ways: by reducing cost in the supply chain; by increasing efficiency – by providing higher protection levels for example; and, of course, minimising the environmental impact. This cluster of benefits is attracting new markets to triple wall and we see ourselves moving into these hitherto non-traditional areas for heavy-duty solutions,” says Rees.
Likewise, the incoming competition – and not least in nibbling away at retail-ready applications attracting lighter-weight transit packs. “Heavy-duty box makers are entering more into the retail sector because of the need for larger-size bulk bins to sit at the end of an aisle,” says Mondi’s Raimann.
“Products packed in these large aisle boxes can range from pumpkins for Halloween to DIY items. In using a white kraft paper, printing can be up to two colours for short or medium-length runs; while in large promotions run by the snacks industry, the volumes are sufficient for using full colour. These large bins for seasonal marketing can remain in use for up to four weeks at a time.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CASES IN POINT
Effectively doing away with wood as a primary heavy-duty substrate, Tri-Wall’s Notchfold is ideally suited to packaging products of up to 8m in length. Notchfold comes flat-packed; the converter simply cuts to length and applies corrugated end caps to secure the contents.
In-built V-shaped cuts allow the triple-wall board to form precise 90° angles.
Ease of warehousing and assembly and low transit costs are additional gains, says DS Smith
Tri-Wall speciality products manager Phil Rees: “Our job is to make customers’ lives easier and help
them become more efficient. This is a modern packaging concept that ticks all the boxes: lower costs, better protection and better environmental performance.”
Appropriately enough, SCA Industrial Division recently helped to ensure that precision-engineered Spacelab’s life-support equipment arrived at global destinations safely by replacing previously used wooden crates.
Weighing in at 135kg, the heavy-duty custom-designed structure incorporated three corrugated fittings to prevent movement in transit and contact with the outer packaging. A low-profile corrugated pallet was employed to reduce overall pack height, allowing the product to remain upright during air-freight and so prevent any potential damage to sensitive calibrated instruments.
The final customer gain was the elimination of risk of contamination to equipment for use in a medical environment, which needs to be kept clean and free from contamination.
While the capability to deliver on applications designed to ship products that weigh more than a tonne is limited by the high cost of investing in appropriate equipment, some re-definition of what falls within the sector’s remit is easing the point of entry for additional suppliers of conventional-strength converted material.
DS Smith and SCA are the only main players in the UK producing high-grade double- and triple-wall board made from heavier papers such as wet-strength kraft. Their hold on the market is unlikely to be challenged, says Phil Rees, DS Smith Tri-Wall speciality packaging manager. “Some of the lighter-weight boxes are trying to break into the heavy-duty market at the lower end, but the investment and expertise required to produce true heavy-duty board – especially triple-wall – creates a real barrier for them,” he says.
Typical dimensions of a three-machine corrugator, including extended drying and heating systems, would be 2.5x8m in terms of the finished blank size. Aside from the significant cost of such a big piece of kit, market share doesn’t warrant the investment with volumes diminishing in line with the overall erosion of UK manufacturing and industrial sectors.
Even so, manufacturers such as Mondi and Smurfit Kappa – both of which offer CA grades – undoubtedly have the necessary market connections and design expertise to produce cost-competitive board-based solutions punching slightly below top-weight requirements.
“The maximum weight that can be carried in a heavy-duty box is difficult to define, as it depends on the type of goods, packing, shipping method and final destination,” says Christina Raimann, marketing manager for Mondi Packaging Corrugated Services. “But as a general rule of thumb, CA or AA board can handle up to 0.5 tonnes and CAA up to one tonne.”
Corrugated for car-makers
The Mondi Bux plant in Diss has invested £3.6m in new case-making kit to produce heavy-duty CA board boxes up to 1.2x1x1m printed in two colours and including either stitched, glued or taped joints. As of January, Mondi will be looking to break into the heavy-duty market – not least within the UK automotive sector, still the second largest in Europe. In addition to the Bux factory, Mondi is now also manufacturing CA flat-board and converted applications out of France, Germany and Poland.
Interest being shown by mid-stream manufacturers in heavy-duty applications has in part been stimulated by the overall sluggishness of the UK corrugated industry.
According to Andrew Barnetson, corrugated sector manager at the Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI), domestic market consumption has remained more or less static over the past three years. “While I’m not aware of anything that’s impacting upon heavy-duty that wouldn’t be applicable to the rest of
the corrugated sector, there is no doubt that a combination of energy price increases and escalating legislative and regulatory burdens placed upon mills have taken their toll on manufacturers. It all leads to a scarcity of raw materials,” he says.
“There was a huge and very sudden hike in energy prices 18 months ago, which hit the paper manufacturers very hard. Although it’s true there has been an impact on all substrates, paper is a particularly significant energy user. Furthermore, very often as legislation comes into the UK, it is gold- plated; when the government does its own interpretation, domestic producers are often disadvantaged in comparison to other European countries. Flat board is coming into the UK from French and German suppliers, who are increasingly finding export to be both economic and competitive.”
With usage across all grades running at 1.33 million tonnes, as of the end of August, Barnetson predicts a year-end total of around 2.1 million tonnes – pretty much on a par with the 2.046 million and 2.047 million reported for 2006 and 2005 respectively.
While no figures specific to heavy-duty corrugated packaging are available, the size of the sector is almost certainly well below 15% of the total. With no one likely to invest in a new triple-wall corrugator line in the UK, given the nature of the industry – and although more of a possibility, upgrading is still bound to incur a significant cost – the only realistic options within the conventional mid-range are to fight it out for retail-ready business on a commodity pricing basis, or else to explore the potential for added-value twin-wall applications.
The main competition to double- and triple-wall corrugated board in the heavy-duty sector comes from wood, steel and rigid plastic constructions – none of which can match corrugated’s sustainability, or performance against cost, in delivering customised solutions.
“The product is extremely versatile in that it is more flexible than wood and does not entail the high tooling costs often needed with plastic. It depends on the application,” says Rees.
“Corrugated allows for good printability and because it has an in-built cushioning effect, it’s a far more tolerant substrate for the protection of fragile or sensitive products,” he says.
A three-week timeframe within which to move from design concept to final delivery is not uncommon. Compare this with a similar gestation period for the development of a plastic or steel equivalent, which can run over months.
Additional benefits include assembly from flat board on-site to reduce warehousing. It is lightweight in transit (in addition to the carton itself), a compressed corrugated pallet capable of bearing a two-tonne load weighing only 5kg, much less than a wooden equivalent. It has the flexibility to act as either a single-use or returnable solution as required. Applications of DS Smith’s Unipak RTP solution, incorporating a corrugated sleeve and a plastic cap and tray, have been in use for nearly 15 years.
Bespoke boxes
“A box isn’t just a box when it comes to heavy-duty, because it’s designed to meet a specific performance and handling characteristic. For example, a lot of heavy-duty boxes incorporate special die-cutting for handling, storage or quick erection,’ says Rees. “The interior fittings can be very complicated for, say, a pack to hold and transport automotive components. We produce diverse products, such as boxes with a temperature-resistant film applied to the interior that are used to ship temperature-sensitive products by airfreight.
“FMCG, food and pharmaceuticals customers are all turning to high-performance corrugated, which can add value to their businesses in a number of ways: by reducing cost in the supply chain; by increasing efficiency – by providing higher protection levels for example; and, of course, minimising the environmental impact. This cluster of benefits is attracting new markets to triple wall and we see ourselves moving into these hitherto non-traditional areas for heavy-duty solutions,” says Rees.
Likewise, the incoming competition – and not least in nibbling away at retail-ready applications attracting lighter-weight transit packs. “Heavy-duty box makers are entering more into the retail sector because of the need for larger-size bulk bins to sit at the end of an aisle,” says Mondi’s Raimann.
“Products packed in these large aisle boxes can range from pumpkins for Halloween to DIY items. In using a white kraft paper, printing can be up to two colours for short or medium-length runs; while in large promotions run by the snacks industry, the volumes are sufficient for using full colour. These large bins for seasonal marketing can remain in use for up to four weeks at a time.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CASES IN POINT
Effectively doing away with wood as a primary heavy-duty substrate, Tri-Wall’s Notchfold is ideally suited to packaging products of up to 8m in length. Notchfold comes flat-packed; the converter simply cuts to length and applies corrugated end caps to secure the contents.
In-built V-shaped cuts allow the triple-wall board to form precise 90° angles.
Ease of warehousing and assembly and low transit costs are additional gains, says DS Smith
Tri-Wall speciality products manager Phil Rees: “Our job is to make customers’ lives easier and help
them become more efficient. This is a modern packaging concept that ticks all the boxes: lower costs, better protection and better environmental performance.”
Appropriately enough, SCA Industrial Division recently helped to ensure that precision-engineered Spacelab’s life-support equipment arrived at global destinations safely by replacing previously used wooden crates.
Weighing in at 135kg, the heavy-duty custom-designed structure incorporated three corrugated fittings to prevent movement in transit and contact with the outer packaging. A low-profile corrugated pallet was employed to reduce overall pack height, allowing the product to remain upright during air-freight and so prevent any potential damage to sensitive calibrated instruments.
The final customer gain was the elimination of risk of contamination to equipment for use in a medical environment, which needs to be kept clean and free from contamination.
Source: packagingnews
No comments:
Post a Comment