Board and Carton

The corrugated box turned 120 years old this year, and to celebrate Marco Siebel writes about the upcoming corrugated 4.0, the theme of the 2015 edition of Fefco's technical seminar to be held at the CCIB in Barcelona, from 28-30 October. Macarbox's Javier Iturriza Iceta gives insight into the corrugated market and Henry Alzamora from LamiCan talks about paperboard-based beverage-packaging products. Swedish company Billerud-Korsnäs' director Mikael Strömbäck talks about a waste-free cement sack, and French food and beverage packers Danone and Veuve Clicquot present cardboard-packaging solutions, and finally the sustainability of recycled carton and board will be addressed.

The theme of the technical seminar is corrugated 4.0: smart factories for flexibility and efficiency. The programme will focus on intelligent machines and processes, advanced analytics, resource efficiency, ergonomics and how people at work can adapt to these trends. It will evaluate how new developments will reshape the industry, leading to business processes becoming more flexible, innovative, cost efficient and safer.

Macarbox

European manufacturer Macarbox makes machinery for the corrugated board converting industry. It will present its range of high performance flexo-folder gluers and rotary die-cutters at Fefco's technical seminar at stand 55.

Managing director Javier Iturriza Iceta says: "We will be presenting the flexo-folder gluer (FFG) for in-line printing, die cutting, glueing and folding, a rotary die cutter (RDC) for in-line printing and die cutting, and a counter ejector. All machines are produced in the EU from high-quality materials. Depending on customer requirements, we are able to deliver a stand-alone machine, or equip an entire converting hall with a turn-key solution, including all of the necessary peripheral equipment."

Macarbox was founded in 2009 after the purchase Tecasa's technology and goodwill. Tecasa, a reputable Spanish manufacturer of converting machines, was active on the global market from 1989 to 2007, and sold 200 machines worldwide.

The Macarbox team has communicated with Tecasa's customers to consider the current needs of manufacturers of corrugated boxes. The engineering team has developed new technologies such as a feeding system that allows for exact production in skip-feed and easy maintenance access, a single-blade chamber without lateral seals and an upper counter ejector patented.

Iturriza Iceta says: "These changes resulted in a technologically advanced, robust machine with a good cost-to-performance ratio. The best indicator that we are moving in right direction is that our customers who have previously bought a Macarbox line are placing orders for more machines."

Historically, the principal market for Macarbox has been Latin America. The company has recently reinforced its sales team with area managers to showcase the company's product range at Drupa in Düsseldorf, Germany, from 31 May to 10 June 2016, and at Fefco's technical seminar.

LamiCan

LamiCan is the largest alternative suppliers of paperboard-based cans in the Middle East and in Europe. With headquarters in China, the company has production facilities in Finland and Denmark. It is the only company in the world that produces paperboard-based cans in-house. It also manufactures the machinery and the packaging material. European marketing director Henry Alzamora says his company expects European packers to make the switch to its board-based product range.

"The paperboard can is currently shaking the premium drink sector. A major selling point is that it has the lowest carbon footprint when compared with PET and aluminium packages. The use of 50% renewable raw materials in the LamiCans generates significantly fewer greenhouse gas emissions during production than during the energy intensive production cycle of the traditional aluminium cans," Alzamora says.

LamiCan's mother company APP is an investment company that owns 400 companies worldwide, which generate an annual turnover of about €25 billion. APP owns the largest paper company in China and is the world's largest producer of coated paper. APP supplies LamiCan with paper for its beverage cans with pulp from sustainably managed, PEFC-certified forests.

Alzamora says: "Although some people say that the beverage-packaging market is conservative, you can see that there is a strong demand for innovation, for new ideas, or in other terms, for our products. We offer an innovative product based on an environmentally sound concept - renewable paperboard."

LamiCan was a finalist in the best technology innovation of the year category at the Beverage Innovation Awards at Drinktec 2013. According to the organisers, LamiCan was one of the most solicited during the fair.

Alzamora says: "We have succeeded convincing customers to come to us when companies wanted to cut back on costs while keeping the possibility to change cartons from different suppliers and between production batches. Our cartons are European standard size, which means packers can intermittently use our packs with those they still have in stock. There is no need to reconfigure machines. It seems obvious, but often the most obvious arguments are the best to convince customers.

Billerud-Korsnäs dissolving cement sack wins innovation award

Sweden's Billerud-Korsnäs provides packaging materials and solutions for a sustainable future. Its latest innovation, D-Sack, is a cement bag that can be thrown directly into the concrete or mortar mixer, without being opened. It is easier for the workers, and provides a cleaner, healthier and safer worksite. There is no packaging waste and no cost for waste disposal. The sack won this year's Pulp & Paper International (PPI) award for innovation in sustainable packaging.

Company director Mikael Strömbäck says: "Sustainable packaging solutions are about impact - positive and negative - that packaging and its contents have on people and the planet, today and tomorrow. We strongly believe in and it's an honour to be recognised for it."

Danone:
Danone's packaging, developed by DS Smith, is thin and light R-flute corrugated cardboard that saves money, improves distribution and maximises mechanisation on its yogurt packaging. Compared with the previous version of shelf-ready packaging (SRP) Danone used, the new SRP reduces costs by 20%. Weight is reduced by 30% by moving from two-piece packaging to a single-piece solution. Because the R-flute has 30% more flutes a cm than the B-flute, the surface gets stiffer and flatter, resulting in cleaner printing and perforations. With this new packaging, Danone was nominated for a French Packaging Oscar in the corrugated cardboard and environmental categories.

Veuve Clicquot
Grape residue from the Veuve Clicquot manufacturing process was blended with cellulose fibres to obtain a unique cardboard paper developed by Favini. With this cardboard paper, an original bio-bottle packaging was created. A total of 5.2t of virgin fibre was saved from becoming waste. The printing on the carton is done with solvent-free ink and varnish, and the label is sugar-cane based.