Trade house that keeps you sweet
Sheet Plants – Is shelf ready your ambition?
From time to time buzz words invade industry – often from the internet and sometimes from the pages of trade magazines. However developments in fluting technology have led to corrugated having the potential to be used for more primary packaging and hence a position on the shelf in supermarkets. If you have invested in your business to the point where you can produce a strong reliable material with high quality graphics then combining that expertise with the finishing facilities at Carton Edge may enable you to easily achieve your strategic ambitions.
While it may not be possible to offer all carton styles in heavily fluted materials such as ‘B’ flute, the limitations are certainly the exception rather than the rule. Many micro flute materials can be converted into the same wide range of styles that we offer for solid board. Key is often whether the style requires several layers of material lying one upon another as with orthodox infold corner glued styles in which case ‘B’ flute would not be possible and ‘E’ flute unlikely. However we may well be able to propose an alternative that can facilitate the same finished pack but which avoids the problems created by the traditional infold construction.
Knowing the conditions the cartons will experience during end use may also be key to our being able to suggest alternatives. While much of our solid board work may have to involve cold glue, hot melts and polyurethane adhesives can be used for out packaging or where food is not involved.
Most of the processes we offer can be as easily processed using corrugated materials as solid board – windowing, pick + place and nesting. If there are limitations then it may be that the pack size is physically larger than can be accommodated on our machinery but this can easily be checked out when you give us your blank size dimensions.
The way forward – one might say to get to the meat of the argument quickly, is to contact us at the enquiry stage so that we can contribute to the decision regarding the carton style to be used. This can be critical particularly for large cartons and heavy products.
Material Combinations
We try very hard to say ‘YES’
Most days we are asked by someone ‘can you make this carton?’ and usually the answer is ‘YES’ – but usually accompanied by the request ‘ can you send us a drawing?’
Clearly at an early stage we also have to ask ‘How many?’ since although we may be able to make the carton up it may involve some hand work and so provoke a hefty fee. However there are several examples where we have devised a form of automation that can make the price come tumbling down and more significantly we can ensure that critical level of quality reliability.
Areas where we often bring in new technologies are carton welding and pick/place. Many new pack ideas involve barrier performance in one way or another which therefore involves the use of coated boards or bags to act as a liner. Where coated board is used then careful use of heat can cause the coating to melt in a way that results in the board forming a leak proof seal. Speed of carton forming then often becomes are factor of the dwell time needed for the coating to melt since, unless targeted hot air is used, the board itself needs to become very hot before the coating will liquefy.
A key benefit of many cartons is that their performance is facilitated by combining either more than one board, or more likely board with other materials, with plastic the most common example. We have huge experience with choosing which of the many adhesives available is best for each application but do allow time for trials to test that bond performance is up to the level required. Don’t however assume that plastic windows are the only applications for pick and place. We have applied many different products, particularly board or corrugated pads, bags of various sorts, leaflets and envelopes. Key is often the rigidity or stiffness of the item to be inserted. They need to remain reasonably upright in the feed magazine so that suckers can pick them up one by one for application.
So if your rep has come in with another job you cannot produce yourselves, don’t send him away send him to us, but before he comes get him to ask for a little more time. We cannot always produce the impossible but when we can it almost always takes that little bit longer.
Carton Edge Ltd
Unit 8, Wickmans Drive
Banner Park
Coventry
CV4 9XA
Tel: 02476 422221
Fax: 02476 422223