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Design Creativity Keeps Kramer in Cartons
September 1, 2007 By: Mark Arzoumanian Paperboard PackagingNimbleness gives this independent converter the ability to develop partnerships.
When the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., decided to celebrate the addition of a building wing two years ago, it also thought it would be a great idea to add a personal touch to its gift shop offerings: Jelly Belly jelly beans. They were former President Reagan's favorite snack. The Jelly Belly Candy Co., Fairfield, Calif., was asked to develop a special package for this event. So it turned to Sacramento-based Kramer Carton Co., an independent folding carton converter that had been providing it with cartons for 12 years.
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"They came to us with some rough ideas for this carton and our graphic designer [Frank Burris] provided them with some mock-ups," says Dean Hamilton, vice president of sales. "In less than a week we presented samples to Jelly Belly. It then presented them to representatives of the Reagan Library. They selected one of those designs and we were off and running."
Jelly Belly was obviously pleased with Kramer's work, because last January it received a call to again provide a special Jelly Belly jelly bean carton. This time it was for former President George H.W. Bush, who received the 2007 Ronald Reagan Freedom Award in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Feb. 6. The award is given to those who have contributed greatly to the cause of freedom worldwide.
Past recipients include Colin Powell, Bob Hope, and Rudolph Giuliani. This jelly bean package, which has a picture of Bush and Reagan together when they served as president and vice president, was given to the 1,500 guests who attended the gala event.
Bumps Along the Way
This nimbleness allows family-owned Kramer to distinguish itself in a consolidating and increasingly competitive carton converting industry. While doing well now, it hasn't been all smooth sailing for the company, which since November 1941 has been making cartons for a broad range of customers in the food and confectionery business.
 The plant's MAN-Roland six-color press is often used to make printed sheets for point-of-purchase displays. |
For example, in the early 1990s it went through an ownership change that wasn't resolved until 1994; executive leadership changes occurred in 2004 and 2005. In addition, as mentioned earlier, it has had to deal with customer and competitor consolidation.
"In one case we were supplying a national food processing customer's West Coast plant and lost the carton business because of a corporate decision back East," Hamilton says. "It went to an integrated company. Today you see big, national accounts aligning with integrateds, who have multi-plant facilities. Some of our long-term customers are being bought out by large conglomerates like ConAgra."
Hamilton adds that another factor behind California's shrinking customer base is the dot-com crash earlier this decade. Fortunately, Kramer's business base didn't depend heavily on computer software manufacturers.
"We have to constantly reinvent ourselves in the name of providing the quality and technical innovation that our customers deserve," CEO Bob Brennan says. "We have achieved this with the significant cooperation of our suppliers and lenders, who at times needed to be patient with us."
 Making the Switch |
Most recently, BFI Business Finance, San Jose, Calif., the carton maker's working capital lender, has been a great help. The lender devised creative ways to finance growth and technological investments.
Manufacturing Creativity
Kramer's large customer base (approximately 200) protects it from the onslaught of its integrated brethren — and its manufacturing creativity has helped it keep business.
For example, when a confectionery customer based in California needed a Midwest packaging provider, Kramer entered into a supply agreement with a Midwest packaging company. This company provided a six-color, litho-laminated E-flute package to the customer, which sells its candy to club stores. Kramer also helped the customer structurally design the package and assisted on its artwork.
 Kramer Carton serves a variety of industries, including food, confections, and beverage. |
Currently the packaging partner is close to the customer's Midwest manufacturing plant. But if club store sales meet with success, Kramer is confident the client will relocate production to California. It's all about providing customers with logistical solutions, Hamilton says — not to mention looking beyond next week's order.
"Integrateds are abandoning business that's not high-volume, and high-volume isn't our mix," says Brennan, who used to work at integrated carton converters (see sidebar below). "So we're picking up business left on the side of the road by the integrateds. We can service this business faster. When going after new business, integrated salespeople often need to call the home or regional office and have long discussions. Still, we must constantly find ways to differentiate ourselves."
 Producing Award-Winning Cartons |
This differentiation push is making a difference. Brennan points out that year-to-year sales are up about 5 percent, and the plant's machine downtime has shrunk by 10 percent from a year ago. Better throughput and improved delivery times has supported a more aggressive sales approach. Not only is Kramer getting new business, but it's also ringing up more volume with existing customers.
A reorganized and expanded sales force is another reason for the aforementioned sales increases. This expansion included last year's addition of Bay Area-based Debbie Ayers to Kramer's sales team. Additional improvements include increased labor productivity.
"We're also getting more involved in the folding carton industry associations and improving the marketing of our company," Brennan states. "We joined the Paperboard Packaging Council [the folding carton industry association] two years ago."
The company also is now a member of the Printing Industries of Northern California (PINC), which conducts educational and marketing seminars for its members.
For the last two years, it has been providing the PINC with litho-laminated E-flute cartons for a directory that's sent to 8,500 industry participants, many of whom are graphic designers. The carton has created some positive buzz for Kramer; many of these designers want to know who made it.
 Kramer Carton's Dean Hamilton (left) and Bob Brennan review a printed sheet for a litho-laminated E-flute carton that the carton maker produces for the Printing Industries of Northern California. |
Approval Flexibility
Providing innovative package designs has been a hallmark of Kramer, a make-and-ship operation that employs 75 in a 74,000-sq-ft plant. Supplying beverage industry customers often means producing cartons with the same structural design (but in different board grades and graphics) every Tuesday.
Using Synapse InSite online proofing, these customers can approve carton graphics online from any location, any time. In fact, one of its beverage clients approves up to 20 items a week this way. Kramer will receive an order on a Tuesday, have it proofed the next day, and be on press by Friday or the next Monday.
Four years ago, Kramer worked with Creo to go filmless, and now sends out and receives files through the Internet, saving weeks on delivery times. Its Fuji high-end digital dot proofer allows it to do new carton mock-ups in the substrate of the customer's choice. Quickly producing a dozen or more samples of a carton on the proofer and then making changes in minutes impresses current and potential customers.
"Today you have to be on press in a week versus submitting a proof in a week," Hamilton states.
"Customers say to us, 'I want it right now,'" Brennan adds.
As another way to fulfill customer requirements, Kramer is working with West Coast corrugators to produce high-end laminated corrugated displays, and is printing top sheets for a number of laminating and point-of-purchase display companies.
 The company's Creo large-format digital prepress system helps Kramer to provide stochastic printing, which varies the size and density of a printed dot to create an image that is closer to continuous tone than conventional halftone processes. |
Finally, there's no denying that distributors are a major part of California's packaging world, even if not everyone likes how they have changed this world.
"We do business with a number of distributors, and they want weekly shipments," Hamilton says. "That's in part why we're aligned with display companies, commercial printers, laminators, and corrugated sheet plants. A lot of our business comes from referrals. Having multiple relationships provides multiple opportunities.
"We really want to be more of a partner with our customers. Often we will go into their plants as a consultant, visit their filling lines, see how they run internally and then offer solutions. We will ask, 'Have you tried this?' We know a lot of people in [packaging] niches, so we know who can come up with solutions."
