Article

Flutes Are Constantly in Flux

If you’re producing small flute board, don’t try to impress your customers with letters (F-, G- and N-flute, to name a few) and numbers (flutes per lineal foot). Instead, start with these clients and engineer backwards, says John Lingle, president, Innovative Packaging Corp., a 10-year-old sheet feeder in Milwaukee, Wis. Earlier this month he conducted a session entitle Micro and Jumbo Flutes 101 at the International Association of Diecutting and Diemaking’s (IADD) Odyssey exhibition in Milwaukee.

“We have to be more focused on the end use of the product versus what’s available to us,” he says. “I see [packaging] applications that don’t seem right. We have to educate the end use customer.” New substrates need to be engineered for specific end uses, he adds.

Although the small flute industry has been successful developing numerous variations for specific end uses, problems in diecutting these boards still remain.

“I haven’t seen a rotary diecutter successfully diecut any board less than F-flute,” Lingle says. “The feeding is ok; the problem is ejecting the board off the die. As end users push us, the pressure will be on the existing equipment’s ability to take lightweight board and get it through the converting machinery.”

The current perception is rotary diecutting is faster than flatbed. But that’s not true, he says. It’s all about throughput and cost, not rotary versus flatbed.

And what does the future hold for flute production? First, Lingle believes the corrugated container industry needs to develop more flute combinations, like EB or CB. Box makers must become more adept at optimizing substrates for end use markets. Second, beware the sustainability movement. End users of packaging are being pressure by Wal-Mart and its peers to reduce packaging. This will affect not only the completed package but everything that went into making it, going right back to the corrugating rolls.

Lingle’s advice to box makers is to:

•Know what you want from the substrate, whether it be ECT, print surface or flexural stiffness;
•Know your options and their costs;
•Be aware of trim and volume needs for specialty substrates; and
•Know how your customer will use the substrate.

Callout: “We have to be more focused on the end use of the product versus what’s available to us.”—J. Lingle, Innovative Packaging